


Not What You Expected

by MakingStarsShine



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-26 12:05:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 43
Words: 87,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7573411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakingStarsShine/pseuds/MakingStarsShine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set just at the end of season one, taking place during the six months after and into the beginning of season 2. Amy Warren is a meta human with the ability to collect and propel energy from her hands, she is a former employee of Star Labs, and current member of Team Flash, and Cisco Ramon's best friend. When Eobard Thawne is thwarted in his attempt to return to his time, Amy gets thrown through the wormhole and ends up on Earth 2 where she encounters Francisco Ramon, the villain known as Reverb. While trying to come to terms with her situation, and trying to re-learn her powers on a different world, she starts to find that she's not the first Amy Warren Reverb has known, and she begins to learn that Reverb is not what she expected him to be...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Amy felt the throbbing in her head long before her brain registered being awake. She groaned heavily, reaching up to feel the point where the pain seemed to be radiating from, hissing in discomfort as she found a sizable lump there that was extremely tender to the touch.

“Careful now, we wouldn't want you making that worse,” she heard a voice say from by her feet, causing her whole body to tense as she realized she was in a strange bed, in a strange place, with a stranger watching over her. Her observer chuckled at her reaction, “I didn't bring you here to hurt you, I couldn't be bothered with the mess,”

She blinked her eyes open, finding her surroundings dark and full of shadows. The only light pooled in from a single curtained window at the far end of the room, the artificial orange glow of a street lamp lending nothing to her blurred vision. “Where am I?” she asked, groaning again as she sat up, finding the pain not only pulsed through her head but radiated down her back as well, as though she'd been hit by something powerful from behind.

“You are in an apartment where I happen to be staying at the moment,” the voice, now a shadowed figure back lit by the street lamp replied, their tone lazy, almost bored, “you also happen to be in my bed, but I'm not exactly complaining about that,” she could hear their amusement at the statement and made a face.

“How did I get here?” she could tell from the pitch and tone the speaker was male, also the shadow gave off a masculine vibe, squared shoulders and wide, though the hair that seemed to fall just to the shoulders in soft waves had her second guessing her assumption.

“I already told you that, I brought you here,” the voice answered, sounding more disinterested than before, “I didn't think that bump on your head would affect your memory so severely, perhaps you're not as useful as I thought, damaged goods and all that,”

“My memory is just fine,” Amy snapped, glaring at the shadow, “what I meant is how did you bring me here?”

The amusement returned to their voice, “I carried you,” they replied, “how else was I supposed to get you out of that alley?”

'Alley?' Amy's head throbbed painfully as she tried to recall what they meant, memories coming to her in fuzzy half formed images. She had been in an alley, and there were two thugs attacking a girl....a robbery, she'd stepped in to intervene, but they'd overpowered her, but something scared them off before they could finish her....then the darkness. “You....you're the one who knocked me out didn't you?”

The shadow shrugged, “Easier that way,” they said simply, “no stopping to answer questions, just grab and go”

Amy scowled, “Who the hell are you then? And why did you kidnap me?” she wanted to lash out, to lunge towards this shadow person and punch them in the nose, but the pain in her body told her that was not happening.

“I did not kidnap you, I saved your life,” their tone seemed irritated, “you ought to be a little more grateful I didn't leave you to the mercy of those petty thugs, they might be small time crooks but even they know how to use knives,” the venom in their words cut right through Amy making her shudder.

She swallowed thickly, “Alright, fine then, thank you for saving me, but that doesn't answer the question of who you are,”

The shadow was silent for a moment, and although she could not see it's face, she felt that they were sizing her up, debating what exactly to tell her. “Who I am has a bit of a complicated answer,” they said, shifting where they sat, “much in the same way your answer would be if I asked you the same question,”

Amy frowned in confusion, failing to follow their logic, “What's complicated?” she asked, “you don't have a name?”

The shadow chuckled, “Oh yes, I have a name,” their voice was low now, almost a whisper as they added, “and so do you, Amaryllis.”

Amy felt her whole body tense once more, the sound of her real name ringing in her ears as she stared at the shadow with wide eyes, “How do you know that name?” she whispered, grateful her voice didn't shake with the fear she felt coiling in her stomach.

“Like I said,” the shadow replied, “it's complicated,”

Amy clenched her fists at her sides, preparing her body to strike, pain or no pain, “The only people who know me by that name are my mother and a very close friend of mine, so I suggest you tell me how you know that name before I beat it out of you,” 

The shadow was silent again,, and Amy was counting down from ten to give them time to answer before she struck. Then the shadow stood, an arm reaching upward for something, then there was a click and the room was illuminated by a bare light bulb set in a fixture on the ceiling. Amy squinted in the new brightness, letting her eyes adjust before looking up into the face of her savior and captor, but when she did she was presented with more questions than answers, because the face that she saw was that of Cisco Ramon, but not the Cisco Ramon she knew, this one was different, darker, edgier. She gasped in surprise, shrinking back a little, “...Cisco?” she asked earning a wicked smirk from him.

“Short answer?” he said, placing a hand on the brass of the bed's foot board, “yes,” his smirk grew into a grin then, “long answer....yes, but probably not the one you were expecting,” he moved around to sit on the bed still near her feet, “My name is Francisco Ramon, but you can call me Reverb,”


	2. Chapter 2

Five Hours Earlier

 

The man they had come to know as Eobard Thawne gazed appreciatively at the machine Cisco, Amy and Ronnie had built for him, lifting his gloved hand to touch the glass of the cabin, “It's beautiful, Rip Hunter would be impressed,” he said before clasping his hands behind his back, he gave Amy Joe and Cisco and amused smile as he added, “he built the first one of these, interesting man...” he trailed off as the wormhole flashed with a bright white light, and something that looked like a metal helmet with gold wings on the side burst out, skidding across the floor of the accelerator.

“Now what the hell is that?” Joe asked, his eyebrows knitting in confusion.

“That's my cue to leave,” Thawne replied with a grimace, then he turned to Cisco and Amy, taking a few steps closer to them so he could look them in the eyes, “Thank you,” he said earnestly, looking between them “both of you,”

Amy said nothing, merely collecting a yellow energy ball in her hand and glaring back at him in warning. Cisco touched her arm lightly, “Don't ever come back,” he said firmly, meeting Thawne's gaze.

Thawne nodded slightly, then turned to enter the machine, pressing a few controls he slid the curved glass door shut behind himself and started it up. The metal legs lifted and retracted, the whole mechanical orb hovering in place before turning so Thawne faced the wormhole. Behind him, Amy dissipated the energy ball in her hand as she watched him, a nervousness in her gut gnawing at her as she and the other waited for him to disappear into the wormhole and be gone for good. “Come on,” she whispered under her breath, “go already...” her whole body was tense, her head aching with the tension, then she felt a warm slightly clammy hand slip into hers and she turned to see Cisco looking back at her, his eyes shining with sympathy and understanding. She managed a small smile for him, just a light twitch at the corners of her mouth, squeezing his hand to secure it more firmly within her own. He smiled back, squaring his shoulders as he turned back towards Thawne and the portal. 

Suddenly the wormhole flashed with light again, and something much larger burst out. Amy instinctively put up her arm to shield herself, but the force of whatever had come out colliding with Thawne's machine sent it exploding in a flurry of glass shards, the shock wave knocking all of them to the ground, Cisco's hand torn from hers upon impact. 

It took her a minute to recover, her vision swaying slightly as she struggled to her knees. She could hear Thawne shouting something, then her eyes found Barry and she realized he had come back. “You could have had everything you ever wanted!” Thawne roared angrily, his entire form primed, ready to lash out at Barry in his rage.

Barry stumbled where he stood, a smirk gracing his face as he told him “I already do,”

Thawne lifted his hood and mask over his face, vibrating as his eyes glowed red and menacing, “Not for long,” he growled, then they were a blur of motion and electricity, and Amy knew she had to do something. Barry was weak already, his stumble told her that, and even if he were at his peak he still was no match for Thawne. 

She glanced over at Cisco and Joe, both of them still sprawled on the floor unconscious. With a grimace she whispered, “I'm sorry Cisco,” knowing he would not approve of what she was about to do, which would undoubtedly put her life in danger, and then she was up, lunging forward with two balls of energy primed in her palms. She shot them both simultaneously, aiming for the streak of light that was Thawne and Barry as it passed her. It made contact she could tell as it exploded in a shower of sparks, but on who or what she couldn't tell until in a blink she found herself face to face with those glowing red eyes. In the next second she was hurtling through the air, a scream wrenched from her as she realized she was headed in the direction of the fast collapsing portal. She made contact with it and felt her whole body begin to tingle, growing hot and cold at once as it enveloped her. The last thing she heard before it closed was Cisco, screaming her name as he watched her disappear, and then her vision went dark and she felt as though she were falling.....

 

Present Time

“Cisco what...what happened?” Amy could feel tears burning her eyes, the pain in her head near overwhelming now as she moved forward to put her hand on his leather clad arm, “why are you dressed like that?” she added making a face at his clothes.

Francisco narrowed his eyes at her offended, “You're one to be questioning wardrobe choice little miss ripped jeans and tatty t-shirt,” he snapped shaking her hand off, “and I've already told my name is Francisco, the last person to use that silly nickname you keep repeating, I beat to a pulp, and I also seem to recall telling you that you may call me Reverb, so I suggest you learn to address me properly or I you might find my hospitality significantly diminished” he stood up again, pacing back to the foot of the bed where he stood partially in shadow between the overhead light and the orange glow from the window.

Amy felt like she wanted to be sick, nothing was making any sort of sense, this man looked and sounded exactly like Cisco, but held a threatening darkness about him that intimidated her. She swallowed thickly, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, half hoping that when she opened them this would all turn into some weird dream, but it didn't; and as she gazed at the man calling himself Francisco as he watched her with a contemplative fury, she repeated her question, “What happened?”

“If you're referring to my intervention in the alleyway,” Francisco started, “I already told you, and I must say I'm growing tired of your seemingly vaporous memory” his tone was thick with annoyance now, clasping his hands behind his back he continued, “however if you are referring to how you got here to begin with, then I have no idea,” he lifted his chin so that he was looking down his nose at her, “I was hoping that you could tell me,”

Amy frowned, clutching the side of her head, “What do you mean how I got here?” she asked incredulously, “where is here?”

Francisco narrowed his eyes again, “It's-”

“Complicated?” Amy finished for him, getting a little annoyed herself, “I'm not an idiot ok, I realize you think that I am because I keep asking questions, but I honestly don't know what the hell is going on, the last thing I remember is being tossed into a wormhole and waking up on the side of the road somewhere with no clue how I got there, then I found those thugs in that alley and now I'm here, so either you start explaining what you know and quit being a dick, or I'm leaving with or without your permission,” She glared at him, he jaw clenched so tight it hurt as she fought back her tears.

Francisco smirked at her, a hint of amusement in his eyes mixed with something else Amy couldn't identify, “Feisty, aren't you?” he said in a condescending tone, then he sighed, moving back into the light, “What I know is this: you are not from this Earth, in fact you are from the Earth that I like to refer to as the kiddy pool, that's how you recognize my face you see, on your world you are close friends with 'Cisco' Ramon, my doppelganger,” he made a face as he said the nickname, almost as if the sound of it left a sour taste in his mouth, “I know that your name is Amaryllis Warren, known as Amy by friends, a former coworker of said doppelganger. I know that you were affected by the same particle accelerator explosion that gave him his abilities which he has regrettably not yet discovered, I know all of this because I have discovered mine and can use them at will, however even with my ability to see into your dimension I do not know how you came to be here in mine so since I've shared what I know, how about you start sharing what you know?”

Amy stared at him in utter disbelief, struggling to wrap her brain around everything he'd just told her. 'My dimension?' she thought, “You mean that wormhole I was thrown through....it sucked me into another dimension?” she asked him, her brain slowly putting the pieces together.

“You tell me,” Francisco answered, “like I said, I couldn't see it,”

“It must have....” she muttered, thinking back to everything that happened in the moments before she was thrown. Thawne had thanked them, Cisco had all but told him to fuck off, then that thing had come through the worm hole.... “There was a helmet, a silver metal helmet with gold wings on either side of it, does that sound familiar to you?”

Francisco snorted, “That ridiculous hat The Flash wears?” he laughed, “yeah I'd say it's familiar, but what does it have to do with how you got here?”

“The wormhole, it sort of...spit that thing out before- hang on did you just say The Flash?”

Francisco shrugged, “Yes I did, and no I don't mean that idiot with an Oedipus complex from your world, I mean the one from this world, a man by the name of Jay Garrick, now moving on,” he waved his hand dismissively urging her to continue.

“Well like I said, the wormhole spit it out before my Flash came back through it, so I'm guessing that the wormhole was somehow linked to this world and when Thawne-” she paused to correct herself, “or rather, the Reverse Flash knocked me into it, I must have gotten dumped here before it closed,”

“So you're the breacher Zoom is looking for....” He bit his lip as he gave her a wicked smirk, “...interesting,”

Amy shrank slightly under his gaze, “Who's looking for me?”

Francisco's smile grew, showing his teeth and giving him a predatory aura, “Oh-ho, you have no idea what's coming for you beautiful, Zoom is as nasty as it gets on this world,” he shook his head as he chuckled softly, “I'm almost sorry I saved you, I might have spared you a messier end had I let those thugs have their way, guess we'll never know now,”

Amy was really properly frightened now, talking to this Cisco was bad enough, but if he was telling her someone worse was looking for her... “Isn't there anything you can do to help me?” her voice trembled, tears slipping down her cheeks unchecked now, the pain and the fear breaking her.

At this Francisco's smile seemed to drop ever so slightly, almost as though her breakdown had caught him off guard. He quirked an eyebrow at her thoughtfully, “Why would I want to help you?” he asked gesturing over her form, “you're not even from this world, why should I risk my neck for someone who doesn't even belong here, hmn?”

“You did it before, didn't you?”

Francisco scoffed, “Intimidating two ametures without powers is hardly the same as going up against Zoom,” he pointed out, “I was simply bored when I happened upon you all, and your vibrations in particular intrigued me”

Amy sniffled, “So you helped me because you were bored and thought I would entertain you, is that it?” Francisco didn't respond verbally, instead he shrugged and smirked at her, “Ugh never mind then!” she snapped, wiping her eyes roughly, “I'll just deal with whoever this Zoom is on my own then, thanks for nothing Francisco, sorry I wasn't as entertaining as you hoped I'd be,” she struggled off of the bed, wincing as she began to limp past him towards the door. 

She'd made it almost halfway there when she felt him reach out and grab her by the arm, “Wait,” he sighed, sounding as though stopping her was a chore forced upon him, “I'm not saying I will help you,” he said as he began pulling her back towards him, “to be perfectly honest I don't even know if I can, however,” she was stood before him now, face to face with him as he stared into her eyes, “I might consider trying if you can do something for me,”

Amy frowned hesitantly, “What?” she asked, her voice near a whisper.

Francisco's eyes didn't leave hers as he trailed his hands down her arms to take her hands, holding them palm side up between them, “with my abilities, I've seen what you can do in your world, the power you can hold in the palm of your hands like fairy lights,” he smirked, giving her hands a squeeze as he said, “I want you to show me first hand, I want to feel it running along your fingers as you gather it in your grasp, I want to know what you're capable of before I risk my life to help you,” 

His voice was low and soft, almost seductive, his fingers ghosting over the back of her hands as he spoke. It sent a shiver down Amy's spine, making Francisco's smirk grow into a devious grin. “Fine,” she agreed, mentally wincing at how hoarse her voice suddenly sounded. She began to concentrate, recalling the feeling of the energy building against her skin, more and more until she could channel it to her hands, she recalled the warmth of it, the tingle it brought to her fingertips. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath she waited for it to begin, second after second ticking by....but nothing happened. She opened her eyes, frowning slightly down at her hands as her pulse began to quicken, panic tickling the back of her mind as she began to realize she couldn't do as he asked.

“Having trouble?” Francisco asked, irritating her further.

“No I-” she flexed her hands, feeling them begin to tremble “it's nothing, just distracted, from the pain,” 

“Allow me,” he said, moving his hands from underneath hers to hover above them. He spread his fingers and tensed them, “try again,” he said, watching her hands expectantly.

“What are you-?” Amy started but, he shook his head, silencing her.

“Try again,” he repeated firmly, his eyes still trained on her hands.  
Amy shrugged and did as he bid, taking another breath and closing her eyes. To her surprise, this time she began to feel the familiar tingle in her fingers, but there was something else to, a vibrating that she was unfamiliar with. She opened her eyes and gasped as she looked down at his hands, soft steady pulses of vibration emanating from them across her own, which were beginning to glow with a familiar golden light as the energy collected within them. She looked up at Francisco's face, finding a fascinated smile there as he stared down at their hands together.

“Your world vibrates at a different frequency than this one,” he began explaining, “you're used to using your power under those conditions which is why you were having trouble before,” he looked up into her eyes now, the pulses from his hands never faltering, “one of my abilities is to manipulate such vibrations, which is what I'm doing now, vibrating the energy surrounding your hands at the frequency you're accustomed to,” his pulses suddenly stopped, the small balls of energy that had begun to form quickly dissipating. He lowered his hands onto hers, palms touching palms as he smiled at her, “With a little practice, you could do that without my help,” he said tapping his fingers against her wrist lightly.

Amy nodded, withdrawing her hands quickly as she asked, “So does that mean that you'll help me?” she asked hopefully, pressing her hands against her sides to try to shake off the sensation of his skin against hers.

“....I suppose so,” he agreed, slowly lowering his hands. His smile remained on his lips, his eyes darting across her face and down her body before finally coming back up to meet hers, “Lets get out of here then,” he said, “you can still walk, yes?”

“Yes,” Amy replied with a frown, “but where are we going?”

“My place,” he replied, turning towards the door.

“I thought you said-”

“I said I happened to be staying here,” He cut her off before she could finish, “how long I would be staying was never mentioned, nor did I say that this apartment was mine,” he continued out into the hall, Amy following as best she could, “No this grimy little hole in the wall happens to belong to my brother Dante, that's him there, passed out from god knows what,” he nodded to a couch as they entered the living room, a figure slumped over the arm of it looking unsettlingly like a corpse, all skin and bones and shabby clothes, “sad case really, he wanted to be a pianist of all things, ended up a good for nothing addict in this hovel, but it comes in handy in certain situations,” 

Amy stared at the figure Francisco had claimed to be his brother, a feeling of pity and disgust washing over her, “Have you ever tried getting him help?”

Francisco stopped in his tracks, turning to give her a disbelieving look, “Why on earth would I do that?” he asked with a laugh, “he was useless even before the drugs, the only thing that would help him would be to put him out of his misery,” and with that he moved on, heading out the door without a backward glance.

Amy wanted to be sick again, wanted to run, to scream, to cry, anything she could to lash out at this horrible dark world she'd been dumped in. She knew Cisco's brother Dante, she met him once as Cisco's friend date to his birthday party, he had been a suave put together young man, and seeing him like this made her head hurt with the incredible contrast. And Francisco, just brushing him off like that? Saying he was basically better off dead? It was almost too much to bear. But she didn't have much of a choice, so she clenched her jaw tight and followed after him, hoping against hope that she hadn't just made a huge mistake choosing to put her trust in her best friend's evil doppelganger.


	3. Chapter 3

As she followed Francisco down the dimly lit streets, Amy began to look around to get her bearings. The layout of the the buildings seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place why since none of the buildings really looked like anything she'd seen before. Everything looked like it had jumped out of a futuristic comic book from the 40's, all chrome and brick she wondered what it would look like in the sunlight. They didn't pass many people as they went, and those who did see them coming seemed to hurry across the street or down alleyways in fear, Francisco seemed to command a certain level of respect here, or at least his persona of Reverb did; Amy shuddered to think how exactly he'd earned such respect, knowing it wasn't likely for his charity. She thought back to the vibrations he'd generated over her hands, the force of them hitting her hands making them shake down to her bones and all the while seeming practically effortless to him. If he could do that, he could probably do a lot worse, maybe even vibrate whole buildings to the ground, or even a whole city.

“Are you even trying to keep up?” Amy snapped to attention as Francisco called to her from several feet ahead, having stopped noticing Amy had fallen significantly behind. “I thought you said you could still walk?” He said in a huff as Amy caught up.

“I can,” she snapped, “I was just trying to get a sense of where we are, I got a little distracted by everything,”

Francisco rolled his eyes, “We don't have time for your sight seeing, we have to move quickly,” he snatched her hand up and began walking again, keeping a steady pace as he all but dragged Amy behind him.

“Hey, slow down!” She whined, trying to tug her hand from his grasp, her body flaring with pain as she struggled to keep up.

“Pipe down and keep up,” he barked as they turned the corner, “we're almost there anyway.” 

He maintained his speed for another half block before stopping outside of an impressive looking apartment building, a tall brick structure with large metal gargoyles perched in rows of three between every fourth floor. He released her hand then, pulling out a plastic card key from his pocket. He waved it in front of a spot on the glass door before them and it slid open to allow them entry, a computerized voice welcoming them. Once inside Amy's eyes went a little wide at the elegance of it all. The lobby they seemed to be in reminded her of a fancy hotel, a set of two leather sofas positioned around what appeared to be a hologram of a fountain projected from the ceiling while a man in a button shirt and a tie sat at a desk nearby with the words 'Central City Palisades' set into it with glittering glass letters.

“Central City Palisades?” Amy read aloud, “this is Central City?” she asked as Francisco moved towards an alcove with two elevator doors.  
“Where did you think you were Dorothy, Oz?” he replied with a smug smile.

Amy scowled, “I told you I had no idea where I was,” she growled back, “all you told me was this was a different world, not the same city on a different world,”

Francisco shrugged as he hit the up button for the elevator, “So sue me, I didn't think it was important at the time,” he crossed his arms as they waited, then a small stuttering voice called from behind them.

“Ahem....Mr. uh.... Mr. Ramon?” They turned to find the man from behind the desk standing there, a piece of paper in his hand as he smiled nervously.

“What is it Puckett?” Francisco asked in a bored drawl.

The man flinched at the sound of his name, “I uh....I have a message for you, from your mother....” He held out the paper with a shaking hand but Francisco merely stared at him in annoyance.

“Well, are you going to read it or wave it at me until the elevator comes?” Francisco asked harshly making the man flinch once again.

“Oh I uh....sorry....,” he brought the paper back within his view and read the message, “Francisco please call me, I m-miss you and want to hear the v-voice of my favorite son, love m-m-mom,” he smiled again, “she called two hours ago sir,”

Francisco sighed, “Of course she did,” he waved him off, “Puckett the next time she calls tell her that I don't care if she gave birth to me or not, I'm not giving her any money and that's final, she can get a job and earn it like everyone else,” the elevator doors opened with a ding, and he stepped inside, “come along now Alice, Wonderland is upstairs,” he fixed Amy with a salacious grin as he beckoned her into the elevator with one finger.

Amy gaped at him but stepped inside anyway, clenching her fists as the doors slid closed behind her, “You're out of your fucking mind if you think-”

“Easy there darling, that was purely for pretense,” he cut her off brushing past her to swipe his key card over a panel to her right causing the elevator to move, “Jake Puckett might not be the brightest bulb in the lamp, but he does remember faces quite well, it's part of his job as a desk boy. I only insinuated we were going to shag each other's brains out so he didn't get suspicious if he saw you around her again, it's easier to let him think we're an item than to let him draw his own conclusions,” 

“And why is that?” Amy asked crossing her arms over her chest indignantly.

“Because Zoom has eyes and ears all over this city,” He answered, “and even desk boys can be useful when asked the right questions, so you're welcome,” he glanced over her form again and smirked, “besides, who knows, you might get lucky anyway, I haven't had much time for fun stuff lately, and I do love my women feisty,” he winked at her as the doors slid open once again and he stepped past her into a spacious apartment.

Amy stalked in after him, ready to tell him exactly where to stick his 'fun stuff' when she gasped, taken aback by the large apartment before her. It looked like she'd stepped inside of Cisco's brain and found a secret blueprint for his dream man cave; the walls were decorated with movie posters, framed and hung precisely all around the living room making it almost seem like a theater lobby. In the middle of said living room was a large reclining sofa with a beautiful glass coffee table that had four remotes set neatly in the center. Off to the left she saw a doorway that lead to the kitchen, and across the room on the right there was a hallway that she assumed led to a bedroom of some kind. It was the nicest apartment she'd ever seen outside of a magazine, and she was standing in it. 

“Wow...” she managed quietly, Francisco nodding as he removed his leather jacket and draped it over the arm of the sofa.

“Wow indeed,” he said taking a seat, “I bought this place with my first check from Star Labs, decorated it myself, down to the last cushion on this couch,” he smiled, patting the seat beside him in invitation.

Amy sat a cushion away from him, “You worked at Star Labs on this Earth to?”

Francisco scoffed, “Work? Honey of course I don't work for them,” he extended his arms over the back of the sofa, his hand just out of reach to touch her shoulder, “no they are paying me restitution for the emotional and physical trauma that was the particle accelerator explosion. You see those idiots over there let their big secret experiment explode underground without thinking how it might affect the citizens of Central City; when my abilities began to manifest themselves, I saw an opportunity and lawyered up, and I haven't worked a day since,” he seemed quite proud of himself as he lolled his head back against the cushions, a grin on his face, “now legally my abilities are a burden and have caused me continuous stress as they grow and evolve, but truthfully they're the most fun I've had since well....ever” 

Amy frowned at him, “So you're cheating a billion dollar research facility out of it's money for fun?”

“Well it looks like someone is catching on faster than before,” Francisco confirmed, “I was beginning to worry I'd damaged some of those lovely little brains of yours when I knocked you out,” he slid closer then, reaching out for her.

“What are you doing?!” she cried, slapping his hands away.

Francisco narrowed his eyes, “I was going to inspect that lump on your head now that we're not squatting in my brother's drug den, but if you're going to be rude I can just let you suffer...”

Amy felt slightly foolish now, blushing as she muttered, “I thought you were...”

“Oh relax will you? I told you that was all pretense,” Francisco chastised her, knowing what she had meant to say, “I said I like my women feisty not forced, I have some measure of self respect,” he took her shoulders in his hands and started to turn her body away from him. 

“Shit!” she hissed, flinching away. 

Francisco made a face, “I thought you hit that dumpster awfully hard,” he said thoughtfully earning an incredulous look from Amy “looks like we'll be treating more than just your head tonight,” he sighed leaning backward to pick up a phone on a small table behind the couch, “Puckett, I need you to bring me a few things, seems my pretty guest here wants to play doctors and nurses and craves a little authenticity,” Amy rolled her eyes at his comment, pressing at her sore spots gingerly as Francisco rattled off a list of medical supplies he wanted sent up. When he was done he stood up, “Up,” he said snapping his fingers.

“I am not a dog!” Amy snarled angrily.

“Fine, please get up so you can go to the bathroom, unless you want to strip in my living room,” Francisco replied flatly. 

Amy stood, hugging her arms around herself as she asked “Why do I have to strip?” moving her feet to shuffle away from his slightly.

Francisco gave her a withering look, “Because neither of us has X-Ray vision for one, and second, putting bandages and such on your clothes would be completely useless,” he pointed towards the hallway expecting her to move, “honestly, is common sense something you all evolved out of on your world?”

Amy wanted to tell him to fuck off or something equally as rude, but she reminded herself that he was basically her only hope in this mess of a situation, and even if that weren't the case Francisco seemed like the type of person who would retaliate when met with disrespect; so she turned and stalked down the hall where he pointed, listening to him call directions to her so that she arrived at the correct door. The bathroom was unsurprisingly just as impressive as the rest of the place, with a large white claw foot tub against one wall that looked like it could fit three people, and a spacious looking shower against another that had what looked like a shelf in it big enough to lay down on if you wanted to. Between those two was a full length three panel mirror set into the wall, and it was the first time Amy had gotten a real good look at herself since arriving in this world. She looked rough to say the least, her jeans ripped and dirty, her shirt equally so, and as she removed her clothes what lay underneath was almost worse; a great big yellow and purple bruise covered her side from under her right arm down past the hem of her pants, accented by other smaller bruises in various other places on her skin. As she removed her pants, she found the large one continued, spreading down her leg to just above her knee, which explained why it had been so painful to walk as they traveled here. She felt the tears come again, the pain coupled with the stress of being in a strange world, and the realization that she might be stuck here all closing in on her at once. She felt exposed, vulnerable, and that only made the tears worse. She collapsed to the floor and sobbed, clutching her stripped clothes to her chest as she trembled and wept heavily. 

“Crying won't help,” she jumped at the sound of Francisco's voice, startled by how close he was as he stood over her, “apologies, I should have announced myself when I came in, but I didn't think you would hear me,” he knelt beside her, setting a large white first aid kit on the floor between them, “listen, I understand all of this is probably rather surreal to you, and your brain is fighting with your emotions to tell you what to do, but I promise you crying will get you absolutely nowhere, so you'd best get it out of your system now if you must, things are only going to get worse from here.”

Amy stared at him, a mixture of disbelief and pity mingling in her eyes, “That sounds like something a person who's done a lot of crying would say,” she said, at that point not really caring if he got angry with her or not, but he didn't.

He smiled softly, looking down at the floor as he said, “And so it is, so perhaps you ought to trust my judgment and learn to shut that part of you off,” he looked up at her, meeting her eyes, “Only if you want to survive in this world that is, and you'd better, need I remind you I'm risking my own survival for you Warren, so don't fuck this up for either of us,” and with that he flipped open the first aid kit and began inspecting her injuries.

Amy sat still and let him move her where he needed, the tears still leaked from her eyes but the sobs had stopped and didn't feel close to coming back. She stared straight ahead, her eyes glazing over as her mind worked, his words echoing inside her head. 'only if I want to survive....' she thought morosely, 'and what if I don't want to? What if I want to give up and just let this Zoom or whoever take me? What if I'm tired of fighting to survive?' 

'Don't you dare give up on me Amaryllis Warren'

The words were like a beacon, a shining light of hope and happiness at the end of the tunnel as she heard the sound of Cisco's voice in her head.

'You are a badass energy wielding meta-human, and my best friend, you fight this and you beat it like the warrior you are, got it?'

'Yes Cisco....for you I'll keep fighting....for you I'll win,' she felt a small smile on her lips as she thought those words, and even through the pain of being prodded and patched up, and the stress of what was to come in this unfamiliar world, she felt somehow stronger knowing that Cisco, her Cisco, would be cheering for her every step of the way. And that was enough for her to go on.


	4. Chapter 4

'This is going to be such a pain in my ass, Francisco you're an idiot!' that along with a constant stream of curses ran through Francisco's mind as he worked, applying a generous amount of salve to the purple areas of Amy's skin, keeping his mouth clamped shut so that his thoughts didn't become absent muttering. He hadn't been lying to her when he said he'd saved her out of boredom, he had honestly been wandering the streets flexing his powers when he'd been struck with the vision of her facing off in that alley. He'd never experienced a sensation quite like it, the vibration distinctly different and intriguing, adding on top of that the fact that in his vision he hadn't been able to see her face, he couldn't resist the opportunity to investigate the situation. But how he was regretting it now.

The thugs were easy, just kids really, looking for a thrill and some free cash off the lady who had stupidly taken the alley as a short cut to wherever. They had recognized him instantly and done the smart thing, running for the hills with tails between their legs, but the lady victim needed more convincing. He didn't even give Amy a chance to turn around when he blasted her, and she flew so far the woman nearly fainted, but she scrambled away like the others, and Francisco had felt quite proud of himself; but then he saw her face. She had landed face down so he had to roll her over to look at her, and when he did his heart skipped a few beats as he recognized her.

“Amaryllis?” he'd whispered her name, the feel of it on his tongue like holding an old friend close. He couldn't believe it was her, it couldn't be her, he'd been there when it happened, he'd watched her....but it wasn't her he quickly realized, she was too different, something about her screamed that she was out of place. And then it clicked, and all the images came flooding back of the other world, the other earth, the other Cisco, and her. Amy they called her on that world, a cheap childish truncation of her beautiful name, and she was strong, a powerful meta human who could control energy itself, and god was she magnificent on her world. But she wasn't on her world, she was here in his, which begged the question, how the hell did she get here? He spent a the entire time she was unconscious trying to see it, vibrating into her world, picking up the after shocks and piecing it together, but the portal had been too strong for him to get a proper look at, it wasn't until she told him that he realized just how deep this rabbit hole went.

“Keep an eye out for anyone out of place,” Zoom had ordered him, his deep vibrating growl unnerving Francisco as always, “I don't want anyone or anything interfering with my city, understood?”

“Understood,” Francisco had said, he had made a contract with the devil he knew that now, and here he was harboring the thing Zoom wanted most, a breacher.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' he thought, even as his hands gently wrapped Amy's arm in bandages, 'He will find out and he will probably kill us both!' he taped the bandage down, 'shes not even the same girl you moron, she doesn't know you like Amaryllis did, she's not yours to keep safe!' 

'But someone has to'

The voice sounded the same as his, and he knew it was him, Cisco. Francisco had seen the way he looked at this girl, saw how he cared for her even if she didn't completely understand his feelings, he watched as he loved her endlessly in the background and felt the dull aching memory of that same feeling within him. He remembered his Amaryllis, not so strong as this one, but just as beautiful, his bright flower who never knew his love completely. 'Fuck you Cisco,' he thought as he closed the first aid kit and stood up, 'why do you have to be right?' 

“Come on, you need to eat and I need to find you something to wear,” Francisco left the bathroom before he got a response from Amy, and as he entered the kitchen he reached up on top of the refrigerator to pull down a bottle or Arak he'd been saving for some unknown future occasion, “Fuck you Cisco,” he muttered, voicing his thought from before, “this is going to suck,”. He poured the liquor into a glass and mixed in the water, gulping the contents down with a wince and a hiss, sending out a silent prayer that he would live through what was to come, which knowing Zoom he thought, was very unlikely....


	5. Chapter 5

Something to wear ended up being a plain dark gray t-shirt and a pair of black sweatpants that Francisco found gathering dust in the bottom of his dresser, “These will have to do for now, I don't expect you'll be leaving anytime soon so we'll have plenty of time to get you measured and into something less...saggy,”

“You mean something more attractive?” Amy corrected pursing her lips.

“You said it, not me,” Francisco replied collecting his stash of take out menus, “but if you want to dress up then I certainly won't stop you, you'd make excellent decoration once you're healed up,”

“Say something like that to me again and I'll deck you,” Amy said with a scowl.

Francisco gave her a sweet smile, “You'd embarrass yourself more like, without your powers you're all talk little girl, I'd see you coming and have you on your ass before you got within ten feet,”

“Well then I guess that's all the more reason for me to learn to use my powers here huh?” Amy smiled in return, before making a disgusted face and sitting back on the couch.

Francisco lounged on the other side of the couch and began fanning himself with the menus as he watched her, “You know for someone who practically begged me to help them, you're being awfully rude,” he lifted his legs up, laying them out on the couch one at a time so that his sock clad feet were almost touching her leg, “I find myself gradually losing my motivation to keep you alive,” he pointed one of his feet to poke her with, “perhaps you should do something to remind me why I'm helping you?” he tapped her a few times with his outstretched toes until she got annoyed and stood up.

“I did not beg for your help,” Amy answered defensively, “I was about to walk out on you in case you forgot, it was your idea to bring me back here after you begged me to see my powers,”

Francisco chuckled, “How could I forget, the brave broken flower, hobbling towards the door like a scene from a movie,” he set the menus down and clapped for her, “it was a very impressive performance I must say, but I think we both know that if you had managed to survive even a day out on your own, you would eventually come crawling back to me for help; so like I said, you should remind me why I agreed to,”

Amy swallowed down her next comment, something snide and angry that would likely get her nowhere but further on Francisco's bad side. Instead she stood as straight as she could manage against the pain, tilting her chin up she asked “What exactly did you have in mind, Francisco?”

He gave her a wicked grin, resting his clasped hands against his stomach as he thought of just how many things he had in mind. She looked like his Amaryllis, sounded like her to, and if he were honest with himself the thought had crossed his mind of seducing her despite her injuries, but it was a little late for that now, and he wasn't lying when he said he didn't like his women taken by force. He sat up, moving one of his hands to his neck and making a pained face, “You know you aren't the lightest load to carry, I think I might have strained a muscle bringing you back to my Brother's apartment,” 

Amy crossed her arms over her chest and frowned as she caught on, “You want me to give you a massage?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Francisco's grin returned, “It would certainly give me a reason to keep you around,” he replied.

Every cell in Amy's body screamed at her to say no, to tell him she'd rather be left on the streets and forget all about him, but she knew she couldn't she needed him at least until she figured out how to use her powers here. “Would you rather be lying down, or sitting up?” she asked flatly, Francisco's eyes sparkling with glee as she submit.

“Oh I'll stay sitting up thank you,” he said scooting forward, “you can just slide in behind me and get to work.” Amy said nothing, silently sitting behind him with her legs pretzel crossed in front of her. She reached out for his shoulders but he stopped her, turning, “Uh-uh, not what I meant,” he took hold of her foremost leg and pulled, straightening it out beside him, “how do you expect me to relax with your knees digging into my back?” he grabbed her other ankle but she batted his hand away, straightening her leg on her own. 

Francisco turned around and started to lean backward when she stopped him, he started to turn back to chastise her when she reached to her left and snatched up one of the throw pillows, positioning it against her stomach, “If you're directly against me I won't be at the right angel to do anything,” she explained, “you can lean back now though, I fixed it,”

Francisco nodded, leaning back her said “How thoughtful,” and settled in. 

“Don't mention it,” Amy muttered quietly, then she got to work, finding his neck under his long dark hair and kneading the muscles there gently. His skin felt warm and soft, and his hair tickled as it fell over her hands in a soft mess of dark brown curls. As she breathed in through her nose the scent of him struck her and she stopped for a moment, her brain becoming muddled as she realized he not only looked and sounded like Cisco, but he even smelled the same. 

“Get lost did we?” Francisco asked, breaking her from her reverie. Amy again said nothing, but resumed her work, this time a little less care as she dug her thumb in. “Ow, easy back there sweet heart,” Francisco hissed as he flinched. Amy remained silent still, her fingers still moving in rough harsh strokes, then she suddenly felt a pair of strong hands circling both of her wrists and holding them out to either side, “I said take it easy,” Francisco's voice was a low angry growl, “or I'll remind you just how hard I can hit without laying a hand on you,” he leaned his head back against her chest, looking up at her with a steely gaze.

Amy's pulse raced, his hands on her wrists feeling like two red hot cuffs as they held her tight, “Sorry,” she managed, he voice quiet as she stared back at him. He released her wrists slowly, re-positioning his head as he waited for her to continue. Amy placed her hands once more on the back of his neck, rubbing soft slow circles into the muscles, her mind absently reminding her of a few bits of medical knowledge she had picked up from Caitlin, specifically the parts about what it would take to snap a man's neck. But she abandoned that train of thought as her hands moved upwards, earning a soft appreciative noise from Francisco.

“Much better,” he said, his voice still low and rough, but the anger gone from it now. He let one of his arms rest against her leg as the other reached for the menus he'd set aside before, “As a reward I'll let you pick what we eat tonight,” he made another appreciative noise before continuing, “your options are Italian, Chinese, and Indian, which do you prefer?” he held the menus up so she could see.

“I don't care, I'm not particularly hungry,” She told him, her hands moving down again towards his shoulders.

“Hungry or not, you need to eat, and I am not prepared to do any cooking so pick one,” He groaned slightly as she found a small knot in his back.

“Chinese then,” she decided as she pressed harder, “I like sesame chicken,” 

Francisco groaned again, a low throaty groan as she loosened the tension, “That wasn't so hard now, was it?” he asked ever so slightly breathless.

Amy couldn't help the small grin that came to her lips, a sense of satisfaction building in her as she continued to turn this jerk of a man in her lap to putty with her fingers, “No I guess it wasn't,” she agreed moving her hands up again, “I take it I'm doing a good job?” she tested as she worked just at the base of his skull.

“Stellar,” Francisco replied as his head lolled back a little. He pulled what looked like a phone out of his pocket and began dialing the number on the Chinese menu when he stopped short, his body going limp as he let out a small unbidden gasp.

Amy had gently removed the hair tie holding half of his hair up and was now massaging his scalp with skilled fingers, reveling in the reaction she produced from him, “You know it's funny,” she said as she turned his head easily, “how all that talk of yours goes out the window when someone's got their hands in your hair,” 

“Just shut up and keep going,” Francisco muttered, his eyes closed against the feeling as Amy began to slowly drag her nails over his scalp.

“Certainly,” she said, working her fingers deep into his hair, her left hand all the way at the top of his scalp when suddenly she tightened her grip her other hand quickly moving around his neck. 

“What the hell are you-” Francisco started, but he was cut off as her hand tightened around his throat.

“You think you're so strong and powerful just because I haven't got my powers yet,” Amy hissed in his ear, “but let me tell you something Reverb, I am not someone who lets people walk all over me, so the sooner we get my powers back, the sooner both of us can be out of each other's lives, and if you even think of screwing me over then you think of this moment right here, and remember that powers or not, you really shouldn't fuck with me, clear?”

Francisco struggled to respond against the hand at his throat, choosing to nod jerkily just to get her to let him go. He swallowed thickly as she released him, moving to sit up again when he felt her hand on the back of his neck again, gently massaging as she had before. He froze for a moment, contemplating whether to jump out of her grasp or let her continue, but eventually he leaned back against her and chuckled quietly, “Just like I said,” he told her focusing on his phone again, “feisty,” he dialed the rest of the number and put the phone to his ear, “you know I might have been wrong about you Warren, you might belong here after all,”

Amy wasn't sure what he meant by that, or if she liked the glee in his tone as he said it, but that didn't matter just now. What mattered was that she'd gotten her point across, and no matter what she was going to live up to her words, once she got her powers she was gone, period.


	6. Chapter 6

'They're dead...' that single thought kept repeating over and over in Cisco Ramon's head, those two words accompanied by flashes of Amy, Eddie, and Ronnie's faces from various memories he had of them. He didn't want to believe it, didn't want to acknowledge that three of his friends were never coming back but he knew he had to. His chest ached, like he'd been holding his breath for hours, every inhalation almost burning as it filled his lungs. He hadn't really been close with Eddie, knowing him mainly as Joe's partner and Iris's boyfriend slash fiancee, but he had always been nice when he and Cisco did interact, and Cisco still grieved for his sacrifice to save them all. Ronnie's death was a little more painful, having been good friends with him before everything happened; not only had they just gotten him back after believing him dead for so long, but knowing that this was the second time Caitlin lost him making her a widow so soon after the wedding, it dug deep within Cisco as he grieved twice over for his own loss and for Caitlin's. But the one that hurt most of all, was Amy.

'You should have told her,' his inner voice chastised him, 'you should have told her how you felt when you had the chance, now you never will' 

He sighed wearily, “Even if I had told her, it wouldn't make a difference now that she's gone, it wouldn't bring her back,” he muttered under his breath. He sat in his lab, staring with unfocused eyes at a spot on the floor, his mind now conjuring up an image of Amy's smiling face, her eyes lit up with happiness as she gazed only at him, just having discovered how to control her abilities with his help. That had been a great day, and they had gone to dinner with everyone to celebrate after, but the part he remembered best was that bright magnificent smile. 

“Cisco?” He looked up at the sound of his name, the smallest of whispers from the doorway he almost didn't hear it. 

“Hey Caitlin,” He put on a smile for her, stuffing his pain away for now in lieu of being Caitlin's much needed anchor, “I thought you were with Professor Stein-”

“I was,” She answered softly, cutting him off, “but he went home to be with his wife, and I wanted to check on you, so...here I am,” she laughed a little, but it was forced, and even as she made the small sound of it he could see tears in her eyes.

“Don't worry about me Caitlin, I'm fine,” Cisco lied standing, “I should be worrying about you,” he moved towards her, pulling her into a firm hug.

“You're not fine,” Caitlin argued, sniffling against his shoulder, “you just think that if you say you are I won't worry about you,” she pulled away from him, blinking at him with wet, red rimmed eyes, “but I can see it in your face you're not ok, and you have every right not to be, after watching Amy...” she trailed off, looking down at her hands.

Cisco shrugged, “Ok fine I admit it, I'm not fine,” he took her hands in his and gave them a squeeze, “but honestly, don't worry about me, I'll be ok,” his eyes shone with such sincerity as he met her gaze, and for Caitlin that was enough for now.

She nodded slowly, acknowledging his statement before she could no longer fight the tears in her eyes, “Oh god Cisco I lost him again!” she cried, letting out a shaky sob as Cisco pulled her into his arms again, “I know that we all lost so much today, but I lost Ronnie again, after we fought so hard to bring him back, after we finally got married-”

“Hey shhhh,” Cisco hushed her, hugging her tighter, “I know sweetheart I know, just let it out, I'm right here ok, you can cry all you want I'm not letting you go until you're ready,” He stroked her hair and back with soft gently movements, rocking his body side to side as he held her, the sounds of her sobs reverberating through him as he did his best to comfort his friend.

He felt almost numb as he held her, the pain and anger and hurt all pushed down so hard it felt like a cold lump of rock in his soul. Caitlin was right, he had every right to be upset, to not be ok, and eventually he would let himself be those things; but right here, right now, he couldn't afford to be, not when so many other people needed him to be strong. Caitlin needed him like she had when they'd first lost Ronnie, Barry needed to be there for Iris which meant Barry himself would need someone to be there for him, and Cisco would be that someone. So with a deep breath, he conjured up that memory of Amy's smile, and used it like a mental sledge hammer, smashing all the bad feelings down into the deepest darkest place he could, and then he focused back on Caitlin and what she needed from him.


	7. Chapter 7

Amy wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep, she hadn't even realized she had until she felt a foot nudge her leg and heard a sharp voice telling her, “If you drool on my couch I will make you sleep on the floor.” She blinked her eyes open, disoriented at first as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings, but then she remembered where she was, and and with whom.

“I was barely even asleep,” she grumbled squinting up at Francisco, “and if you think you can make me sleep on the floor you've got another thing coming asshole,” She struggled to sit upright, her injuries making her body feel stiff and clumsy.

Francisco rolled his eyes at her retort, “Yes yes, I'm sure you'll try to strangle me again or something equally as juvenile,” he said, “in the meantime get up, you're not sleeping here,” 

Amy remained seated, “If I'm not sleeping here, then where the fuc-”

“I didn't say speak, I said get up,” Francisco cut her off, “if you do as you're told you won't have to ask stupid questions like you were about to, now on your feet before I actually do decide to have you sleep on the floor,”

Amy snarled at him, jumping to a standing position, which she immediately regret doing as her body radiated with pain. But she grit her teeth and kept her remarks to herself, merely asking “What now?” in a hoarse pained voice.

Francisco didn't say anything, instead he turned and began walking towards a door that Amy had assumed to be a closet on first glance. He produced a pair of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, which led to a small narrow hallway, the end of which dark with shadows. Without pause he went on, the sound of keys jangling on the other end as he unlocked another door, then there was a soft 'click' and light flooded the little hallway from the other side. Amy stood in the doorway peering across at the other with apprehensive eyes, it wasn't until she heard Francisco's voice snap at her, “Come here will you?” that she shuffled through the small space into what looked like another apartment altogether.

“What is thi-” Amy started.

“I own the entire floor,” Francisco cut her off again, “this was originally a guest suite to accompany my apartment, but I had no use for it so I intended to turn it into a closet or something, but seeing as how I now have a 'guest' to put up with, I'm making use of it,” he gestured around to the pre-furnished space, “all of the furniture in here technically belongs to the building, but nobody has come to take it so do with it what you will, as for a your sleeping arrangements, there is a disassembled bed over by the windows that you'll have to sort out on your own if you want to use it, otherwise I can have Puckett come retrieve it in the morning,” he handed her one of the keys from his set, “this key will open your door only, so if you're feeling particularly tempestuous go on and lock the door, but I will be keeping a spare, and you will not be getting a key to the door on my end, so if I become bothered by you I can lock you out of my sight, any questions?”

Amy looked around at the space she had just been given, then back at the man who had given it to her, and the only thing she could think to ask was “Does this suite get wifi?” 

Francisco blinked at her for a moment, his fist clenching around the keys in his hand “I'm locking you in for the night, so best make yourself comfortable, I'll come back when I've figured out what to do with you,” 

He turned to go, but Amy called back to him “Why?”

“Why what?” Francisco asked without turning around, “why am I locking you in? Because you irritate me-”

“Why are you giving this to me?” Amy said, cutting him off this time.

At this Francisco paused, placing his hand against the door frame he turned his head to glance at her over his shoulder, “I'm not giving you anything Warren, I'm putting you here for safe keeping. We may have led Puckett to believe we're having intimate relations, but I'm not the type of man known to enjoy domesticity, not to mention the fact that if Zoom should send one of his dogs to my door I don't want you're scent in my home, plausible deniability and all that,” faced the hallway once more as he added, “now get some rest, or don't, I couldn't care less,” and with that he was gone, the sound of a lock sliding into place as the door shut on the other side.

Amy sighed and looked around herself again, there was a sofa and a chair, a small coffee table and a bookshelf, but aside from those few items and the bed parts by the large wall of windows the place was empty, the walls a bland lifeless white to match the black furniture. “At least you don't have to be close to him the whole time,” she told herself, and with another sigh she headed for the bed, hoping it wouldn't be too hard to assemble.

On the other side, in his own room, Francisco sat on his bed and stared at the wall, the one he knew his room shared with the one he'd put Amy in. 'You're a fool Francisco, she's either going to kill you or get you killed, and you're keeping her next door like a little pet, idiot' the voice in his head hissed to him, making his hair stand on end, 'Stupid little Francisco, nothing but a little pet himself, under Zoom's thumb, following orders, but won't master be angry when he finds out what you've done, hmmn?'

“He's not going to find out,” he muttered, his eyes unfocused as he argued with his subconscious.

'Oh but he will, Zoom always finds out, Zoom always knows,'

“Well he hasn't shown up yet, so clearly he doesn't know everything,”

'You're willing to take that chance? Willing to wait until he comes for you?'

“If he comes for me,”  
'And what will you do then? Have your little pet protect you? She can't even make a spark, she's useless to you,'

“I can teach her, show her how to harness her powers here,”

'And why should she listen to you? She doesn't even like you, what makes you think she wants you to teach her anything?'

“She will,” He blinked his eyes then, focusing them again as he stood up, “she will learn from me, she doesn't have a choice,” he declared. He stripped down and got under the covers, stealing one more glance at the shared wall before settling in to go to sleep. He had a long day ahead of him tomorrow, starting with convincing her to listen to him instead of running her mouth, but he would teach her to use her gifts in the end, he had to.


	8. Chapter 8

“What do you mean you want us to leave?” Cisco asked as he and the rest of what was left of Team Flash stood in the cortex stared at Barry with confused eyes.

Barry looked down at his feet, rubbing his neck as he usually did when nervous or stressed, “Look, I know you all want to stick around and help, and I appreciate it really, but too many people have been hurt or killed working with me as The Flash, and I just can't let that happen again so the only way I see for me to prevent that is for me to work alone,”

“How exactly are you gonna do that Barry?” Joe asked, “I mean sure you're the one doing most of the leg work here, but this isn't exactly a one person job, not to mention who's gonna help you if you get into a tight spot?”

“Not to mention who is going to run maintenance on all the equipment and systems, who's gonna keep your suit in good condition, who's gonna make funny commentary while you get beat up by super powered jackasses,” Cisco stepped forward, “Barry you're really not making any kind of sense right now,”

“I'm not saying stay away forever alright?” Barry explained, “I mean I know that's pretty unrealistic, but I am saying that officially I'm disbanding Team Flash, so if any metas get it in their heads to come after me they don't have you guys as targets, ok?” 

Iris shook her head, “So what, you're just going to...call us in when you need us?” 

Barry nodded, “Something like that yeah...”

“I think it's a good idea,” Caitlin said drawing surprised looks from everyone.

“You do?” Cisco asked with a frown.

Caitlin nodded, “A lot of stuff has happened here, a lot of....terrible stuff. There has been a lot of good stuff to, but I get what you're saying Barry, we're still technically in danger here every day, even if the Reverse Flash is gone, any one of the countless other metas out there could get smart and come after us,”

Barry gave her a small smile, “Thank you Caitlin,”

“I also don't think I can work here anymore,” Caitlin added making Barry's smile fall as fast as it came.

“Caitlin...” Cisco tried, but she shook her head.

“I lost Ronnie here once,” she said in a slow measured voice, “and despite that I stayed behind because of you Cisco, and because the man we all thought to be Harrison Wells convinced me that it was my best option under the circumstances,” she took a deep breath now, closing her eyes to fight back tears as she went on, “but now that I've lost Ronnie again, and in the same place...I think that it's time for me to move on, and to leave that part of my life behind me, y'know?”

“You want to leave us?” Cisco asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“No not leave you guys, just....” She gestured around the room, “every time I look around I remember Ronnie, and every time it feels like I'm losing him again, and I just can't handle that....”

Cisco stared at her, nodding his head almost absently in acknowledgment of her words. He understood what she meant, understood how that sort of thing could affect a person; he felt the same way every time he looked around his lab, and saw something that reminded him of Amy, and it always cut him right to the core....but they all needed each other, didn't they?

“Well I guess that settles it,” Barry said, “I hereby dissolve Team Flash,”

'No' Cisco thought, 'No you can't, what am I supposed to do now?'

Everyone was already starting to leave when Barry approached him, “I'm sorry Cisco, I know how much you loved this Team,” he put a hand on his shoulder, “but you understand right?”

Cisco felt himself nod again, though he couldn't remember telling his head to do it. He swallowed the lump in his throat and met Barry's eyes, a small sad little smile on his lips as he said, “Yeah man, I get it, I just don't want you to get hurt y'know?”

Barry laughed softly, “I know buddy, I know,” he pulled Cisco into a hug, and as Cisco let it happen he felt the cold hard rock he'd stuffed all his emotions under for the past couple days beginning to crack. Barry pulled back and pat his shoulder, “I'll see you later alright?” he asked, and Cisco nodded again.

Cisco let his feet carry him to his apartment, his eyes to unfocused to actually see his path. When he finally closed the door behind him, he felt the first tear slip down his face, warm and thick as he felt the rock crumble within him. “What do I do now?” he gasped as he leaned back against the door and slowly sank to the floor, “Oh god Amy....What do I do now?” He felt his chest seize up and the tears fell like rain, his entire body shaking as he wept against the door. He had never felt like he belonged somewhere as much as he had at Star Labs, he had never been so happy; and here he was having lost another thing in his life that gave him joy. “C-come back Amy, I can't- I can't do this w-without-” he couldn't continue, his breath taken in a gasp as he sobbed into his hands. He had never felt so alone...

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was rising as Amy awoke this time, her body still stiff as she sat up, but considerably less angry with her. She had curled up on the mattress after only twenty minutes of investigating the bed parts, choosing to simply move the rest away and leave the mattress on the floor. She'd found a bed set folded in the tiny closet next to the door, and had made quick work of laying it out before all but collapsing into the bed exhausted. 

The sound of keys jingling drew her gaze towards the door, where she found Francisco wheeling in a cart topped with several plates of food. “All that talk about not sleeping on the floor and where do I find you?” Francisco tutted when he saw her, “come here, I've brought breakfast,” he pointed to the sofa nearby and wheeled the cart over to it.

“I didn't realize you would be providing room service,” Amy quipped groggily.

Francisco gave her a withering look, “I am simply sharing mine with you, unless you keep up your smart mouth,” he thrust a set of plastic silver wear at her, “you get to use this garbage until I trust you not to attempt to murder me at any given moment,” 

Amy gave him a thin smile, “That's fine, prison shanks are usually made of plastic anyway,” she said as she reached for them.

Francisco drew his hand back, “You know I could force you to eat with your hands, like some savage,” 

Amy sighed, “Don't worry about it Captain guyliner, I'm not planning on killing you any time soon,” she reached forward and snatched the utensils away, “so what's with the huge spread anyway?”

“That is all Puckett's doing,” Francisco sighed, sitting in a chair to her left, “I instructed him that you would be joining me for breakfast, so I needed something 'to impress my female guest' and this was his response,” he gestured to the variety of dishes on the cart, “I'm not exactly sure how this is meant to be impressive, but like I said Puckett is a simple man, and if nothing else there is certainly a variety of options,”

“You're not wrong,” Amy agreed as he handed her a plate. She filled it with one of everything, which was a lot under the circumstances, and set about eating. She was halfway through her plate when she realized Francisco was watching her “Something you find interesting over here Francisco?” she asked with a mouth half full of french toast.

Francisco frowned, “Not so much interesting, I've just never seen a woman eat with such enthusiasm before,” he cut a small section of his own french toast as he added, “frankly I'm surprised you haven't choked yet,”

Amy narrowed her eyes as she swallowed her bite, “Well perhaps it's because I'm used to shoving things down my throat,” she said, causing Francisco to choke on his own bite and give her a wide eyed look, “or maybe I'm just hungry and know how to chew my food because I'm not an infant,” she added spearing another bite of toast.

Francisco set his fork and knife down and sat back in his chair, “Just out of curiosity, which one is the real answer,” he said, giving Amy pause, “I mean I did occasionally watch your world a few times, but I never paid particular attention to your romantic entanglements,” he smirked as he corrected, “actually that's not entirely true, I did quite enjoy watching you and my doppelganger tip toeing around your feelings for each other, a bit like school children really,”

“Is your life really that boring that you've gotta watch someone else's?” Amy asked, trying to sound harsh but failing, the mention of her feelings for Cisco hitting her harder than she expected.

“Is your life really so complicated that you couldn't see that boy was smitten with you?” Francisco achieved harshness effortlessly with his inquiry, leaning forward as he went on, “you see I figure it was either a lack of perception of your part, or an outright denial of his feelings because you were afraid of what might happen. If it's the second answer then well done, you successfully broke the boys heart without ever actually admitting your feelings; but it if the first one is correct, then let me add this to what is no doubt a whirl wind of emotions buzzing in that head of yours: you're never going to see him again unless you cooperate with me, because like it or not, I'm the only one who has the power to open breaches other than Zoom, and we both know he is not very keen to help you.”

Amy sat silent, staring at her plate as she willed herself to calm down. She placed her utensils on either side of her plate and folded her hands in her lap, “I suddenly find myself to be not hungry,” she said before looking over at him, “thank you,” she said before slowly standing and approaching her small half bathroom. Once the door was closed she turned the faucet on full blast, hoping the sound would drown out the noise of her crying. She had known Cisco liked her, and she had been afraid that if she acted on that knowledge with her own feelings it would make things awkward if it didn't work out. But Francisco said she had broken his heart, and despite knowing it was said to upset her, she realized he was probably right anyway. To Cisco, she was dead. He had no way of knowing what happened to her after she went through that portal, and even if he did, he didn't know he had powers to begin with, how would he get her back without them? She could almost see him, huddled in his room, crying as he called out to her knowing she would never come, and that cut her deeper than she had been prepared for. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the other room, Francisco could hear the soft sounds of her crying over the sound of running water. He clenched his jaw against the twinge of guilt he felt at causing it. He hadn't meant to upset her quite so much, but at the very least he knew he had gotten his point across. She would understand now that she had to let him teach her, she had to let him show her how to use her powers here, otherwise she would be trapped here forever if he saw fit. And he just might anyway....


	9. Chapter 9

“Are you even actually trying or are you making that face because you think it's attractive?” Francisco asked as he watched Amy scrunch her face up in concentration for a fifth time. He had come to the decision late last night as he tried to sleep, that his best bet was to develop Amy's abilities on this world before doing anything else. He figured that if she had her powers, at the very least she might be able to hold her own out in this world, and perhaps then he could just let her fend for herself ; then again he also had a different plan in mind that hinged directly on Amy having her powers, and being able to use them well enough to impress Zoom.

Amy growled at him, lifting a throw pillow off of the sofa and pelting it at him, “Yes I am trying, and your sassy remarks are not helping my concentration at all, so shut it!” she snapped, clenching her fists at her sides as Francisco easily shot a vibration to deflect the incoming pillow.

So far neither one of Francisco's plans for her had made any progress. “Well I'm sorry, it's honestly hard to tell whether you're trying or not, because the most you've managed to produce in the last hour and a half has been a number of grumbling noises and a headache in the base of my skull,” He leaned back in his seat and fixed her with an annoyed look, “I'm not sure what it is you're doing exactly other than making that face and standing there,”

“I'm trying to concentrate!” Amy shouted stomping her foot.

“Bullshit,” Francisco said, “if you were really trying you would have gotten a result by now, you're half assing this entire endeavor because you expect me to make it easy on you like your stupid little friends on your world,”

“Make it easy?!” Amy asked

“That is what I said,” Francisco confirmed.

Amy gave him an incredulous look, “You think I had it easy on my world?” she asked with a snort, “I didn't even remember who I was for almost half a year after the accelerator exploded, all I knew was that I suddenly had these powers that could make things explode, and when I finally found my way back to Star Labs I worked every day to get my abilities under control, so you can go fuck yourself with your 'easy', you have no idea what it was like!”

“Oh cry me a river sweet heart,” Francisco replied icily “your powers manifested themselves with something you could visually understand, you knew they were there,” he leaned forward putting a finger to his temple, “mine started with flashes of vision into universes I could neither explain nor comprehend, striking me like vivid hallucinations at any moment, leaving me blind to the world around me, I thought I was losing my mind until I began to control my visions, and now I can control the multiverse's vibrations on a whim, so spare me your sob story of how you struggled with your abilities and try harder,” 

Amy stared at him, a very small twinge of pity shooting through her before she said “If you're so smart then why don't you tell me what I'm doing wrong?”

“Gladly,” Francisco agreed, standing. He approached her,uncrossing her arms roughly, he positioned her hands between them, palm up as he had the other night “As I told you before, your world vibrates at a different frequency, so the energy within it does to,” he hovered his hands over hers and began sending out soft vibration pulses, “within this area you can collect the energy because I am vibrating it to the frequency to which you are accustomed,” he nodded to her to do so, and she did, easily producing a ball of glowing yellow energy in each hand, “now as soon as I stop, this energy will resume it's natural frequency in this world,” he stopped the pulses and the energy orbs quickly disintegrated, “what you need to figure out, is how to attune yourself to that frequency when gathering the energy around you, you need to feel the vibration of it moving through you and then you can gather it and use it for your own,” 

Amy squinted at him “And how the hell am I supposed to do that?” she asked, attempting to lower her hands, but Francisco grabbed her wrists and held them in place, “I'm not the one with the vibration powers here Reverb, my powers don't work like that,”

“That is precisely how your powers work Warren, you're just not paying enough attention to them,” Francisco's voice was low as his grip on her wrists tightened.

“Or maybe you're wrong and I just don't have any powers here!” Amy shouted at him, trying to wrench her wrists from his grasp.

Francisco held firm, his jaw clenching as he looked her dead in the eyes. Amy swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as his eyes, Cisco's eyes, held hers with a look of fierce and angry determination that frightened her. “I am not wrong,” he said, his voice practically a growl as he spoke through his teeth, “I am hardly ever wrong Amaryllis Warren, because I can see the outcome of my decisions before I've made them, because I can see things you're small scared little mind wouldn't believe; so when I tell you you're not trying hard enough, that you need to focus on the vibration of this world's energy in order to control it, then you best listen to what I tell you or go back out there on the street where I found you, because if you continue to disappoint in your attempts you and I are both as good as dead,” he jerked her wrists up, holding her hands palm side facing him, “now show me why I saved you!” without warning he shoved her backward, sending her tumbling over a chair to the floor.

She landed with a loud thud, crying out at the pain it caused her still healing injuries. She curled in on herself, every muscle in her body clenched against the pain, willing it to subside, but she would not be so lucky. Francisco stalked towards her, blasting a vibration at the chair between them sending it flying across the room. “Get up!” he barked, then he shot her with a pulse, splaying her on her back gasping, “If this is all you're good for then I might as well hand you over to Zoom myself!” the words were followed by another vibrating pulse, this one sending her skidding across the floor into the wall.

Every nerve in Amy's body was on fire, her lungs felt like they were too small, and her vision was little more than a dark hazy blur of the world around her. “Please....” she managed to wheeze, “...stop....hurts...”

“So will your death at the hands of Zoom,” Francisco replied coldly, then another pulse hit her square in the chest, making her cry out with the force of it.

'Don't you dare give up on me Amaryllis Warren' the words swam into her mind as her vision grew steadily darker.

'Oh Cisco...I can't....I don't know how to fight back here...' she couldn't tell if she was crying, but the pain in her heart was bad enough that she could have.

'You are a badass energy wielding meta-human' the voice continued 'you fight this and you win' 

'I don't know how!'

'Feel the vibration of it moving through you...gather it and use it for your own' Amy felt a spark of anger flare in her as Reverb's voice replaced Cisco's in her mind, and that spark grew hot and fast as he hit he with another painful pulse through her injured side.

'I'm going to kill you, you arrogant piece of-' she didn't bother finishing that thought, adrenalin suddenly coursing through her as she sprang up from the floor and charged him. Whether she was too fast, or he wasn't expecting it, or possibly even he was expecting it, she didn't know or care, all she knew was the satisfaction she felt as her shoulder slammed into his stomach and they both went flying across the room. Francisco collided back first with the coffee table, knocking the air out of him, but he quickly recovered and blocked each fist she threw at him, slowly inching away from her as if he were barely trying at all. This made Amy even angrier, the thought of him thinking in that arrogant head of his that she was weak and useless infuriated her like jet fuel on a fire. She quickly changed tactics, grabbing him by the ankles and yanking him towards her again, “You arrogant sadistic jerk!” he shrieked as she straddled him, pinning him down with her weight, “I HATE YOU!” before she knew what was happening a bright red light flashed in her peripheral vision as she brought her fists down towards his face. 

“Fuck,” The word resonated in the silence that hung in the air between them as Amy stared in complete shock at what she'd done. At the very last second, Francisco had deflected her blow, knocking her arms apart so that her fists landed on either side of his head where they remained still, two smoldering rings in the floor forming a halo around each fist. Francisco let out a short bark of laughter as he glanced at the damage to either side of his head, “Fuck,” he repeated “that was....” he laughed again, scrubbing his hands over his face, “I don't even know what that was, my god,” he sat up, gently pushing Amy back until she was sat in his lap, “you almost killed me,” he told her, though he smiled as he did, only adding to Amy's confusion.

Amy brought her hands in front of her, both of them still clenched into fists and shaking slightly, “What just...how did I....?” she opened her fists slowly, her palms flecked with spots of black soot that seemed to form a starburst pattern from the center.

“You used your powers,” Francisco explained, his voice now a gentle whisper, “those burn marks in the floor were almost my face sweet heart, you did it,” he lifted Amy's chin so that she was looking at his face, “you're not powerless here after all,”

Amy heard his words but they weren't registering, she saw his lips moving and heard the words they formed but all she heard were the first four, and then her mind was fixed on the one detail she had managed to catch in her assault on him, “It was red...” she said, looking back down at her hands.

Francisco frowned “What?”

“Red,” Amy repeated, looking back up at him, “the energy was red,” her whole body was shaking now, her eyes wide and afraid, “why was it red?”. Francisco stared at her in confusion, but Amy was absolutely terrified, because not only was the energy she had somehow collected red, but it was a very specific red, a deep red with veins of black striped through it....and it looked almost exactly like the lightening trail she'd seen when the Reverse Flash ran.

“It's a different frequency,” Francisco's voice cut through her frightful thoughts, “light changes color based on it's wavelength, this energy is moving at a different frequency, so it's a different color,” he shrugged leaning back on his hands, “why does it matter what color I was anyway?”

Amy blinked at him, somewhat taken aback by the ease of his explanation and how much sense it made, “I thought it meant...” she glanced down at her hands once more then shook her head, banishing the now silly thought, “never mind, it doesn't matter,” she looked back up at him, then seemed to suddenly realize where she was sitting. 

Francisco smiled at her as she scrambled back from him, “Something wrong, beautiful?” he asked, continuing to lean back on his arms as he spread his legs slightly wider apart.

Amy scowled at him, “Fuck you, you just tried to kill me you think I'm going to stay in your lap?!”

“I did not try to kill you,” Francisco replied sitting up, “I was provoking you,” he stood brushing himself off, “you weren't getting anywhere on your own, so I thought I'd help you learn the way I did, out of necessity to survive,”

“I thought you weren't trying to kill me?” Amy said, “if you weren't trying to kill me then I would've survived anyway,”

Francisco smiled again, “Ah, but you didn't know that did you?” he pointed out as he pointed at her, “and look how well you did, hmn? You nearly killed me!” the glee in his voice was extremely disconcerting.

“I wish I had,” Amy muttered, moving to limp away.

“Now now, don't be grouchy just because I was a little rough with you,” Francisco scolded, catching her shoulder, “you did get a result after all,”

At this Amy rounded on him, wincing in pain before she hissed, “That result was not because I wanted to stay alive, that result was because I wanted to kill you!” 

Francisco stared at her for a moment, something Amy couldn't catch flashing in his eyes before he said, “So your trigger is anger,”

“What?” 

“Your trigger,” Francisco repeated, “we all have them, it's what brings our powers to the surface, helps us to access them,” he clasped his hands together and nodded to her, “yours is apparently anger,”

Amy frowned at him, “I've never had to be angry before to use my powers,”

“Different universe, different rules,” Francisco said dismissively, “it's nothing to be ashamed of, in fact now that we know what your trigger is we can use it to further your training,” he brought his hands up and steepled his fingers over his lips, “I must say it's not what I expected it to be, I assumed from what I saw of your world it would be something ridiculous like love, but no,” he chuckled softly before adding, “well at least that's one thing we have in common,”

Amy shook her head, “What do you mean?”

Francisco unclasped his hands and pressed one to his chest, leaning forward slightly in a mock bow, “My trigger is also anger, something it seems we both have plenty of,” 

“And you're quite proud of that are you?” Amy asked with a disgusted look.

Francisco shrugged, “If it gets the job done,” then he gestured to her form “enough about me though, you are in pain, I can see it in the way your jaw keeps clenching when you're not speaking,” He moved past her, retrieving the chair her sent flying earlier and setting it behind her, “sit down and I'll go and get the supplies from before,”

She did as he said, grateful to be off of her feet as it eased some of her pain. She felt him touch her shoulders for a moment before passing her again to head for the door, but before he reached it she called to him “I meant what I said y'know,” Francisco stopped in his tracks, turning back to face her with a confused frown.

“What's that then?” he asked

“I hate you,” Amy replied, her voice steady and even, her eyes locked onto his, “you're arrogant and sadistic and I hate you,”

Francisco stared back at her for a moment, the words working into his mind before he answered, “Were you expecting to be the first person to ever say that to me?” 

Amy shrugged, “I wasn't expecting anything, I just wanted you to know,”

Francisco nodded, “Alright then, now I know,” he turned back towards the door and left without another word. 

Once on the other side, with the door shut behind him, the voice from before began whispering in his head again, 'told you she didn't like you'

“I never disagreed with that statement,”

'oh but you hoped it wasn't true...'

“hope doesn't mean anything in this shitty little town,”

'And yet you still felt it, still let it fill you up like some love sick sap-'

“It doesn't matter now, she's made her feelings clear-”

'But it hurts you doesn't it? Gets under your skin the fact that she hates-'

“Shut up!” He snapped, his voice echoing in the silence of the living room. He sighed, moving over to the table where he had left the box of medical supplies from before, “So what if it hurts, everything hurts, that's life,” he muttered to himself, “it all turns to anger in the end, and anger I can use,” he gathered the box in his arms and head towards the door once again, ignoring the voice as it hissed to him quietly:

'This hurt is different, this one is familiar, you've felt this one before Francisco. It's back again, and this time it's going to swallow you whole, and you won't even know it until you're too far gone to fight it, you won't know until it's too late....'


	10. Chapter 10

“Party girls, don't get hurt, can't feel anything, when will I learn, I push it down, I push it doooown...”

Cisco didn't know why listening to Sia's “Chandelier” on repeat was somehow making him feel better as he tinkered with some half baked inventions in his living room, but it did, so as it started up again he merely turned the volume up and sang along under his breath as he worked. 

It had been a full week since Barry had dissolved Team Flash, and in that time Caitlin had already gotten a new job at Mercury labs, Professor Stein had spent some much needed vacation time with his wife in Coast City, and Barry had not once texted, called, or even seemed to remember that he and Cisco were friends. 

“ 'I'll see you later alright?', yeah sure, maybe a million years later, huh Barry?” He muttered as he screwed a part into place, “but it's cool, you do you, maybe if you're left alone long enough you'll get your head out of your ass and text your best bro sometim- OW!” he hissed as he accidentally pinched his finger on a different section of the contraption, “dang it!” he whined sticking the finger in his mouth as it began to ooze blood, “I don't even think I have any band aids....” his thought process was interrupted by the sound of a knock on his front door. 

Cisco frowned, standing up slowly as another knock followed, accompanied by “CCPD, open up!”

He approached the door and opened it to find Joe standing out in the hallway, a grin on his face, “Can I help you Detective West?” Cisco asked suspiciously.

Joe held up a piece of paperwork, “Got a noise complaint Mr. Ramon, one of your neighbors claims you've been blasting the same song on repeat for a couple days,” he nodded inside in a silent request to come in, and Cisco obliged, opening the door wider and stepping aside.

“It's only been since yesterday,” Cisco admitted, moving to pause the song blasting from his sound system, “but yeah it's probably been a little loud...”

Joe laughed at him, “Don't worry about it, I've already talked to the neighbor, they agreed to drop the complaint if I got you to turn it off,” he looked around the living room at the various bits of tech strewn about, “your place always this crazy or are you just keeping yourself busy?”

Cisco shrugged, “Yes,” was all he said as he cleared off one end of the couch for Joe to sit, “How did you know this was my apartment though?” he asked curiously as Joe sat down.

“Well I may have done a background check on you all when Barry started working with you as The Flash, and I recognized the address,” Joe replied folding up the complaint paper and putting it in his jacket pocket, “I figured either the complaint was about you, or I'd resolve the complaint and swing by anyway to see how you were doing,”

Cisco couldn't help but smile at that, “Aww, Thanks Joe,” he said before adding under his breath, “that's more than anyone else has done,”

Joe sighed as Cisco sat beside him on the couch, “Barry hasn't talked to you either I take it?”

Cisco shook his head, “Nope, I'm in radio silence here ever since we broke up the team, nobody has tried to talk to me, not even Caitlin, though she's busy at her new job so that's understandable,”

Joe shook his head wearily, “Yeah well you and me both Cisco, I mean the boy lives with me and I can't get more than four words out of him when we're at home,” he looked at his hands, a sadness in his eyes, “he hasn't been this bad since I first took him in, and this time he doesn't even have Iris to talk to because she's still trying to come to terms with the whole Eddie thing,” he sighed again, “I just figured if anyone was handling this whole mess remotely well it would be you,” he glanced over at Cisco who gave him a confused frown.

“Me?” Cisco asked, “Why me? Why am I the one who can handle trauma but not Barry?” 

“Well you've always been the happy one,” Joe said, earning an incredulous look from Cisco, “What I mean is whenever something crazy would happen this past year, you always seemed to be the first person to bounce back, act like everything was ok again, y'know?”

Cisco squinted at him, “I understand you're trying to compliment me, but what I'm hearing is 'great job at being emotionally stunted Cisco',”

Joe laughed at his remark, “Look, all I'm trying to say is, out of everyone in the team, you were always the one who seemed the best at patching things up when it all went to hell, you made everyone feel better again because you never seemed to let it kick you down too hard,” 

Cisco nodded, “Ok...that sounds a lot better....” Cisco agreed with a small smile.

Joe nodded to, “I mean hell, look what you did with Amy,” he gestured to a picture of her, Cisco, and Caitlin that sat on the shelf under the TV, “That girl was absolutely terrified of what she could do when Barry first brought her in, I mean I was kinda scared of her to be honest, but within a month of working with her she was a completely different person like-” Joe stopped short as he finally looked back at Cisco and saw the look of loss in his eyes, “Oh my god, Cisco I'm so sorry, I didn't realize-”

Cisco shook his head and blinked, putting on a smile as he asked “Didn't realize what?” he asked, trying to play it off as though nothing had happened.

Joe gave him a stern look, “Cisco,” he said his name in a warning tone, “don't try and play this game with me, I'm sorry I didn't realize you and her were closer than I thought, but don't you try and put up this front with me, I'm getting it every day from Iris and Barry, don't you start to,”

Cisco looked down sheepishly, “Sorry Joe,” He said quietly, “I just...”

Joe shook his head, “You don't have to explain it to me kid, I get it, trust me,” he put a hand on Cisco knee and gave him a kind smile, “just don't go bottling it up like Barry, it's not healthy and it's only gonna hurt worse when you finally do let it out, understand?” Cisco nodded, “good,” Joe stood up then, Cisco following him, “Well it was good to see you Cisco, I'm glad you're keeping yourself busy, though...maybe keep the music down?”

Cisco chuckled and nodded, “I think I'll be switching to headphones from now on,” he agreed as Joe pat his shoulder.

“Good plan,” Joe said, “and hey, feel free to come over whenever, I'm off early tonight so I'm making dinner if you're interested?”

Cisco looked like he was considering it, “Mmmm, free food....” he tapped his chin before laughing, “sure why not, thanks Joe,”

“Great, I'll make sure there's enough for a fifth,” He pulled Cisco into a hug and Cisco accepted gratefully, “you're a good kid Cisco,” Joe said as they separated.

Cisco smirked, “I try,” 

Joe laughed, “Alright, see you for dinner around seven,” he said as he opened the door.

“Seven, got it!” Cisco called, and with that Joe was gone and Cisco was alone again. He looked around the messy living room and sighed, “Joe's right, this place is looking a little crazy...”. He looked up at the picture Joe had pointed to earlier, it was an old photo, back before the accelerator even exploded, Cisco was snug in the middle between Caitlin and Amy, both girls kissing each of his cheeks as he smiled for the camera wearing a birthday hat and a fake mustache. He smiled at the memory of it, Amy sticking the mustache on under his nose and insisting they get a picture of how funny it looked. He picked his way across the room to lift it off the shelf, the frame slightly dusty. 'You always were so happy, even before we brought you back...' he thought as he brushed a speck of dust from the image of Amy's face, 'I wonder how you would be handling all this right now...'

'Don't be such a grumpus,' one of Amy's favorite old sayings came to mind, 'shit happens, but you have two options when it does, either you sit there and say to yourself, “well I guess my life is just a load of crap now” or you get up and say “well that sucked, lets not let that happen again” and move on, so what are you gonna do now Cisco?'

Cisco smiled, replacing the photo back on the shelf as he took in a deep breath, “Well, that sucked,” he said, turning to begin tidying up his living room, “lets not let that happen again.”


	11. Chapter 11

Earth 2 One Year Previous...

“Twenty seven minutes late,” Amaryllis Warren announced as Francisco came jogging towards her, his brown suit jacket unbuttoned and flapping behind him.

“I know I'm sorry!” he apologized as he slowed to a stop before her, slightly out of breath he held up a little basket filled with food, “I brought snacks though!” he smiled at her.

Amaryllis shook her head and smiled in return, “Fine I forgive you,” she said, “but only if you tell me why on earth we're out in this part of the city at this time of night,” she gestured around at the dimly lit street, “I thought you wanted to see the accelerator being turned on,”

“I do,” Francisco confirmed, “and we will, just not at Star Labs,” he smiled straightening his jacket before offering her an arm, “I have a surprise for you my red pearl, just follow me,”

Amaryllis took his offered arm, giggling at his pet name, “You know most men don't focus on the fact that I share the same name as a flower when sweet talking me,” she said as they began walking, “you've set an awfully high standard you know, I'm probably never going to find a man who lives up to it,”

Francisco grinned, “Perhaps that's the plan...” he teased before both of them laughed. But as he laughed with her, he felt the butterflies in his stomach fluttering, and his mouth suddenly went a little dry at the knowledge of what he planned to do tonight. He had found a spot behind Star Labs while out one day, where when the sun went down and the lab's inner lights came on you could see inside all the incredible equipment the scientists used, almost like looking in on a shop window at Christmas time. He knew to anyone else it would just be like looking in any ordinary window, but he and Amaryllis had a shared passion for science, and while neither one of them had been given the opportunity to work at Star Labs after they graduated college together, they both agreed to work there would be a dream come true, and getting a glimpse inside was the next best thing.

“Ok from here I need you to close your eyes,” He said as they stopped, Amaryllis giving him a suspicious look at his request.

“Why do I need to close my eyes?” she asked, “it's nothing scary is it?”

“No, of course not!” Francisco assured her, “I just want to surprise you that's all,”

Amaryllis sighed, “The last time you wanted to surprise me was when one of the little cleaning robots you built caught my dress on fire,” she pointed out, “and this is a brand new dress Francisco Ramon, I will not have it set ablaze!”

Francisco laughed at her, “There will be no fire involved, I promise!” he said putting his hands on her shoulders, “your dress is in safe hands,” Amaryllis quirked an eyebrow at that and Francisco gasped realizing how that sounded “and by that I mean your hands, not mine!” he added quickly earning a laugh.

“Alright I trust you,” Amaryllis agreed, she closed her eyes and allowed him to take her hands.

“Ok, small steps, that's it,” Francisco guided her slowly towards their destination, a small grassy strip just on the other side of the massive external water tank that was part of the Lab's clean energy project in which they used water conduct electricity. It was a bit of a struggle to get to the perfect spot, the area clearly not meant for pedestrians, but after a few stumbles he stopped and turned her to face the lab, “Ok now, open your eyes,”

Slowly she did so, and then she gasped clapping her hands over her face, “Francisco!” she cried, her eyes wide with wonder, “It's wonderful!”

Francisco smiled proudly, “I knew you'd like it, the moment I found this place I thought of you,” he pointed towards the windows, “It's almost like being inside isn't it? You could almost reach out and touch everything.” He turned back to Amaryllis to find her looking at him with tears in her eyes, but before he could ask what was wrong, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close.

“Thank you Francisco, this is the best present I've ever been given,” she whispered, sniffling as she nuzzled her face into his neatly tied back hair.

Francisco hugged her back, closing his eyes as he memorized the sensation of her against him, the smell of her perfume, the softness of her hair, “You're welcome Amaryllis, I'm glad you like it,” he replied softly, not wanting the hug to end. 

But it did, as Amaryllis pulled back wiping her eyes she smiled and asked, “I don't even want to go stand out front with everyone else, can we just stay here for a while?”

At this Francisco smirked, “Absolutely,” he said, then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small radio “in fact, I planned on it,” he handed the radio to her and rummaged in the basket of snacks until he pulled out a rolled blanket, “so what do you say to a night time picnic by the light of Star Labs?” 

Amaryllis grinned and nodded, “Yes please!” she said, and soon they were set up, sitting on the blanket together with the radio tuned to the news station covering the activation of the accelerator. 

They sat in silence together, listening to the broadcast as they ate some of the snacks Francisco had brought, but every second that ticked by felt impossibly long as Francisco mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. He'd liked Amaryllis for years now, ever since they became friends in college, but with both of them pursuing degrees in Mechanical engineering it was incredibly unlikely that upon graduation they would end up working in the same place, let alone the same city, but fate had been kind and they had both been scooped up for positions as Mercury Labs, and Francisco told himself that it was a sign and he would finally tell her how he felt when the time was right. 

“Amaryllis?” He said her name softly, hesitantly, his breath catching slightly as she turned to him with a bright smile.

“Yes?” she asked, oblivious to his internal turmoil.

He smiled at her nervously, swallowing before he asked, “We've been friends for...a while, right?”

Amaryllis gave him a look of curious amusement, “Yes...going on four years now I think, why do you ask?”

“Well, I've been thinking...” Francisco felt like his brain were being pinched in a vice, he was so nervous, but he never got the chance to continue, as the lights from the window above suddenly went dark and the announcer on the radio began to sound worried.

“We're getting word here that the accelerator may be malfunctioning, Star Labs officials are requesting that we evacuate the premises, ladies and gentlemen if any of you who are listening are nearby to Star Labs then please be wary-”

“Oh my goodness, Francisco we have to go,” Amaryllis cried, standing with some difficulty in the recent darkness.

Francisco nodded though she couldn't see it, and started throwing everything in the center of the blanket, “you go I'll be right behind you, I just don't want to leave this stuff here,”

“Ok,” Amaryllis agreed, and as he turned off the radio he could hear her soft footfalls receding away from him. 

It didn't take long for him to gather everything, and soon he was running after her, blanket slung over his back like a sack. He caught sight of her silhouette near the electric water tank and called to her “Amaryllis!” 

She stopped and spun around to face him, “Francisco hurry, we don't want to-” but she was cut off as a massive explosion of energy erupted from the machine behind her, shattering the thick fiber glass of the tank and sending its contents gushing out in a horrible electrified waterfall.

“AMARYLLIS!” he screamed, dropping the blanket he watched as the water washed over her, knocking her to the ground. Without a second thought he ran for her, splashing into the mud for a second before the still electrified water sent a shock of electricity through him bringing him to his knees. He convulsed for a minute, his eyes flung open as he watched Amaryllis' form a few feet away twitching in a similar manner. He barely registered the sound of the power being cut off for the facility, his body falling limply forward into the mud as he struggled to remain conscious. His body was weak and hurting, but with all the strength left in him he reached his arm out towards Amaryllis' still body, “Ama...Amary...llis....” he managed to grunt out, then his vision went black and he was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn't until four day later that he woke up in the hospital, the doctors all rushing over to him amazed that he was awake. They asked him a million questions, their voices overlapping as his brain struggled to make sense of what was going on. When he finally did manage to speak, his voice a harsh rasp from the trauma, he said only one thing, over and over again, “Where is Amaryllis?”. 

Hours passed before they answered him, a doctor in a clean white coat sat beside him and took his hand gently as he said “Your friend Miss Warren didn't make it I'm afraid, she suffered too bad of a shock and her heart burst before anyone arrived on the scene....I'm terribly sorry for your loss sir, if there is anything we can do to help you, please don't hesitate to ask,”

Francisco wanted to be sick. He had planned the whole damn thing, right down to the little picnic, made everything perfect so he could tell her....and now it was her fault that she was dead. He looked up at the doctor, his eyes glazed over with anger and self hatred, and replied simply, “get me a lawyer,” to which the doctor nodded and left. He should have died that night he thought, should have been the one in her place, but here he was alive without her, and if he had to suffer that, then by god he was going to make Star Labs pay for their hand in it. He would make them suffer to.....


	12. Chapter 12

“You want me to what?!” Amy stared at Francisco as though he'd just told her to turn herself inside out.

“You heard what I said Warren,” Francisco replied, lounging on his sofa, “if you present yourself to Zoom as an asset, then he's not likely to kill you, and it will mean less of a risk for me if you're seen here,” 

Amy put a hand to her forehead as though the conversation were giving her a headache, “I'm sorry, why exactly should I try to work for the super villain bent on tracking me down and killing me?”

“Would you rather stay in hiding for the foreseeable future?” Francisco offered, earning a scowl.

“I'd rather stay alive!”

“And you will,” Francisco assured her, “so long as you convince him you're useful,”

“What happens if I can't convince him, hmn?” Amy asked, putting her hands on her hips, “Oh well, time to die?”

“You will convince him,” Francisco said sitting up, “because your powers are incredible, and Zoom is not an idiot,” he stood up and went to her, gently placing his hands on her shoulders in an almost loving gesture, “show me again,” he said, his voice soft as a smile curled his lips.

Amy huffed but did as he asked, holding out her hands between them. She had gotten much better with her powers in the past week, with the knowledge that she needed a trigger and that trigger was anger, all she had to do was think of Reverb, or Cisco left alone on her world, or anything else equally as upsetting and voila. Her current thought was of Reverb tossing her to the wolves with that smug little smirk on his face and in seconds two red energy balls formed in her hands.

“That's it, you see you're perfectly capable darling, you hardly even have to try anymore,” he moved a hand to stroke her hair which she flinched away from giving him a look of disgust, that only made him smile, “and with that spit fire attitude Zoom will probably find you positively charming,” he laughed.

“You're insane,” Amy muttered, shaking her head.

“Perhaps,” Francisco agreed, pinching his fingers together, “but its either that or you stay locked in my spare room until we both die of old age, so it's your choice,” He sat back down again awaiting her answer.

Amy grumbled as she thought it over. It did make a little sense, she had to admit, if she ever wanted to leave Francisco's apartment then working for Zoom would provide her protection. But that would mean being a bad guy, and she wasn't, never had been, so how the hell was she supposed to convince some super powered maniac that she could be? She sighed to herself, wishing she could just go home for the millionth time, wishing she could just find a way back and leave this horrible darker world behind....

“I don't have anything to wear,” she finally said, turning back to Francisco and tugging at the latest shirt he'd let her borrow, “this Zoom character isn't going to take me seriously if I show up in your hand me down jammies,”

At this Francisco's face lit up, “Oh but that's where you're wrong gorgeous,” he said reaching for the phone on the side table. He lifted the receiver and pressed the button for the front desk, “Puckett, yes I'd like those packages sent up now please, quickly,” he hung up and gave Amy a salacious smile, “you're about to have plenty to wear, and if Zoom has any bit of a human man left in him, when he sees you convincing him of your powers will be the least of your concerns,”

Amy gave him a concerned look, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Francisco shrugged, “Ive been doing some shopping online,” was all he said as the door buzzed and Puckett entered, rolling a cart heavy with boxes in front of him.

“Here you are Mr. Ramon, is there anything else I can do for you today?” Puckett chanced a shy smile with his question, to which Francisco only scowled.

“That will be all Puckett,” Francisco said harshly, making the man jump before nodding and scurrying out the door.

“Why are you so mean to him?” Amy asked as Francisco began to inspect the boxes. 

“Lets call it karma,” he replied dismissively, “Now take these to your room and try them on,” he pushed the cart towards her, “but let me see them when you do, I want to see that I've gotten my money's worth,” the salacious grin returned and Amy had to fight the urge to slap him and tell him to fuck off. 

Once she was in her room she began opening the boxes, each one with increasingly less modest content. By the fifth box she held in her hands a red and black lace bra that looked more like a piece of bondage gear than actual underwear, “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she said as she dropped it back in the box. If Francisco thought he was going to have her parading around in her underwear for him, he had another thing coming, but she didn't immediately go stomping out to shout at him, instead she opened all of the boxes (of which there were at least fifty) and weighed her options. A few of the items covered a reasonable amount of skin, and everything seemed to have a red and black theme. She decided on an outfit and put it on, the tightness of the material giving her only minor difficulty and looked in the mirror by her bed. 

It was a simple ensemble, a dark red top with black lace overlay, a collar that wrapped around her neck and dipped low on her chest, the back cut out down to her mid spine where it was cinched together like a corset; the pants were the same dark red as the shirt, the material a sort of stretching denim that clung to her body like a second skin. Deciding to complete the look she chose from one of the three pairs of shoes he gotten for her, a pair of knee high black boots that laced up the front and had a wedge heel giving her an inch or two of height. She turned this way and that, looking not only at the clothes but the brown and yellow splotches that were her fading bruises. With a sigh she shook her head, “I look like a vampire prostitute from a Gothic romance novel,” she said with a frown.

“Well fuck me,” She jumped at the sound of Francisco's voice coming from the doorway, his eyes wide and hungry as he looked at her, “and I thought you'd look hot in the underwear,” he grinned at her, “don't be shy darling, let me see you,” he twirled his finger in the air indicating for her to spin around.

“Piss off,” she hissed, stomping towards him, “I'm not dressing up like your wet dream you pervert, this stuff barely even qualifies as clothes,”

“Oh don't be such a prude,” he said snarkily, “there's a certain dress code when it comes to being on Zoom's crew, turtle necks and slacks isn't a part of it,” he lifted a pair of lace panties from one of the boxes and smirked, “besides, like I said, if any part of Zoom is still a man, wear this stuff and your powers won't be a problem,”

“So this is to get Zoom all hot and bothered, not for your spank bank?” she asked, snatching the panties from him and shoving them back in their box, “I don't believe that for one second,”

“While I admit seeing you wear these things wouldn't be a tragedy,” Francisco admitted, “my primary intention in picking them out for you was to seduce Zoom, I promise you,” 

“Oh really?” Amy suddenly got close to him, placing her hands on his sides as she met his chest with her own, “so while you were looking at this stuff on the internet, you weren't thinking of me? You weren't wondering how my ass would look in these pants, or how my tits would look in this top, or that bra over there?” she brought her face close to his, close enough that she could feel the slight tremble in his breath as she slowly moved her hands up under his shirt, “you weren't wondering how sexy I would look in all these things as I walked around your apartment, every movement teasing you just a little more?”

Francisco let out a soft whine as her hands continued to move upwards, her nails dragging slowly across his skin, “M-Maybe a little...” he admitted, his lips inches from hers.

She smirked at him, “A little?” she repeated, earning a nod, but she didn't believe him so she dug her nails in harder and racked them back down.

“Fuck, ok a lot,” He groaned squeezing his eyes shut, “but god were my fantasies accurate,” he leaned forward, trying to capture her lips, only to be met with a hand on his face shoving him away.

“I knew it!” Amy cried as he stumbled away, “you're a sick perverted little freak and I'm not wearing these ridiculous clothes for you, or Zoom, or anybody!” 

Francisco took a deep breath to steady himself before replying “Fine, if that's how you feel then take them off and I'll send them back,”

Amy snarled at him, “Go fuck yourself,” she spat.

Francisco smiled back at her, “If I did that right now, I'd be thinking of you, so don't tempt me,” he ducked as Amy threw a shoe at him, “Oh simmer down would you, if you don't want to wear them around me, then don't, you can keep the clothes I've let you borrow alright,” Amy squinted at him suspiciously, “but in any case you ought to wear them when dealing with Zoom, if for no other reason than to use your feminine wiles on him, because honestly anything that might help ought to be tried,”

“And what about this giant tea stain looking thing on my shoulders hmn?” she asked “do half healed bruises scream sexy to you?”

“No but I have a solution for that,” 

“What?”

Francisco turned and beckoned her to follow, heading towards the closet by the front door. One there he opened the door and began flicking through the various coats on hangers, coming to a stop on one made of black leather. He pulled it out and held it out to her, “Try this on,” he said as she took it.

It was a nice jacket, cut high with silver studs on the shoulders and silver eyelets on the belt at the hem. It covered her bruises and just met the top of the corseting on the back of the shirt, the sleeves reaching her wrists had slits up the sides just long enough to zip open for more room. 

“What do you think?” he asked her, crossing his arms over his chest as she moved to test it's fit.

“It's nice....I like it,” she said fixing the collar, “is it yours?” 

“Not anymore,” Francisco said closing the closet, “it was a gift from my mother actually, back when I first started to get my money from Star Labs. She didn't bother to ask my size or consider that black has never really been my color, she just bought it for me expecting me to love it and shower her with money as thanks,”

“But you kept it,” Amy pointed out.

Francisco nodded, “Yes I did, but might I also point out that I kept you even after you almost killed me, so I wouldn't put much stock in that decision,” 

Amy rolled her eyes but inside she understood completely what he meant. After all she did tell him that once she got her powers she was gone, and here she was fully capable of using her powers, and yet she had chosen to stay, she had made that decision. It didn't really matter if he liked the jacket or if she liked staying with him, because in the end it was just a jacket, it was just a place to stay. The jacket didn't mean anything accept one less empty hanger in his closet, and to her, staying there didn't mean anything other than having a place to sleep that wasn't in some alleyway some where, or worse, six feet underground. But even that might not be true soon enough, if this meeting with Zoom didn't go according to plan they might both be dead, and then nothing would matter, not even them.


	13. Chapter 13

“Where does this Zoom guy live, in a cave?” Amy grumbled as she trudged through the woods beside Francisco, grateful he'd had the sense to buy her regular boots as well as the heeled ones.

Francisco chuckled at her question, “As a matter of fact he does,” he said, to which Amy frowned in disbelief, “but it's no ordinary cave, it's set up in the face of a cliff, impossible to get to without super speed,”

“Is that where we're going?” she asked, stumbling over a large root in the ground.

Francisco shook his head, “No, nobody goes there unless Zoom takes you there, and you're not likely to live very long once inside,”

Amy grimaced at the thought, imagining some hideous torture dungeon with bugs and bats and blood on the walls. “If we're not going there, then where are we going?” she asked, looking around, “I mean we are going to meet this guy right, this isn't just some nature walk?”

“Fucking hell,” he muttered before stopping to turn to her, “Is there any way you can just shut up and stop asking so many goddamn questions?” he asked with a huff of annoyance.

She put her hands on her hips as she answered “I have a right to know where we're going Francisco, especially considering how dangerous this meeting is going to be, for the both of us,” 

Francisco regarded her for a moment, the annoyance slowly fading as he took in the woman who stood before him, marveling slightly at how different she was from the frightened mess he'd found a mere two weeks ago. She was beautiful. Not just in the obvious physical sense, it was something deeper and darker, almost like how a storm was beautiful. He could see the strength and potential in her, simmering just under the surface, waiting to be unleashed like a tempest of bright red energy. But as he looked at her and saw all of this, he could also see the fear. It was written clearly in her eyes, under the fierce front, under the anger and almost spiteful determination he could see that cold glimmer of fear and he felt his heart soften ever so slightly.

“You're afraid,” he said, not a question but an observation, one that caught Amy off guard.

“Well...yeah,” she admitted, shrinking slightly under his gaze, “can you blame me?”

'Protect her' he heard Cisco's voice whisper, but he found he didn't need to be told, his feet already moving his body towards her like a gravitational pull. “Amaryllis Warren,” he said softly, the feel of her name on his lips strange, but not unpleasant, “while I do distinctly recall you telling me that you hate me, which to be honest is perfectly understandable, do you really think that I would have set this meeting up if I did not have complete confidence in you and your abilities?” Amy stared at him for a moment, a mixture of surprise and what looked like pride flicking over her features. He took hold of her hands as he had done many times before, holding them palms up between them before placing his palms down atop them, “you have within you, a formidable power, something that the people I associate with would kill to have; so while I am not saying you shouldn't fear Zoom, because only a fool wouldn't fear him, I am telling you that in this world, with your abilities...Zoom is probably the only thing you have to worry about.”

Amy didn't know how to respond, unfamiliar with this level of respect from him. Had she not been living with him for the past two weeks, her brain might have told her she was hallucinating, that she was seeing Cisco in his face and imagining everything he said, but she knew better. This was Francisco Ramon, the meta-human known as Reverb, the man who had re-taught her to use her powers the hard way, and even if she tried she could not mistake him for his double now. “Thank you,” she whispered, feeling genuinely safer with his confidence behind her, and somehow sort of proud that she had managed to earn it.

Francisco smirked tapping his index fingers against her palm before pulling his hands away, “Don't mention it,” he replied softly, “now we should probably get going, Zoom doesn't like to be kept waiting,” he turned away from her and began walking, but as he did so he could not help but notice the distinct loss of warmth he had felt on his skin at her proximity, suppressing a shiver as a slight chill ran down his spine. 

Amy watched him go for a moment, feeling her own shiver shake her body. 'He's not the one you want Amy, he's not the right Cisco, he's completely different...' she heard a a voice tell her, and she knew it was right so she shook her head and began to follow him. But even as she focused on catching up with him, she could hear another softer voice whispering from deep deep down inside that said 'He's a completely different person....that's why you like him, that's why you want him....' and she couldn't help but feel like the second voice was right to, and that scared her almost as much as meeting Zoom.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The meeting place turned out to be a clearing set deep into the woods, a wide spot that looked to be man made, with singed tree trunks here and there along its border, and a few trees that were knocked down altogether, their trunks splintered where they snapped. When they arrived the clearing appeared empty, and Amy began to wonder if their little talk had delayed them too much, perhaps Zoom had grown bored and left, but Francisco didn't seem apprehensive, so she followed his lead.

“Well well well, look who we have here,” a voice called from behind a large splintered trunk, “if it isn't the vibration master himself,” the speaker rounded the trunk and Amy nearly gasped. Ronnie Raymond stood before them, clad in all black with the quantum splicer across his chest, “we were beginning to think you and your little friend had chickened out Reverb,” he smirked “I just lost a bet with Frost cuz of you,”

“Sorry to disappoint Deathstorm,” Francisco drawled, “but knowing you and Frost you're bet was probably had something to do with a wild night of killing and copulation, so either way you're a winner,”

Deathstorm chuckled, “You're not wrong,” he turned his gaze to Amy and licked his lips, “looks like I'm not the only one getting lucky though am I?” he asked, “tell me sweetheart, I've always wondered if his powers could be used for more than just beating people up,”

“Enough,” Deathstorm's smirk instantly fell at the sound of what Amy could only describe as a growl from behind a nearby tree. She looked to Francisco, who had donned a pair of glasses that glowed with a blue light and looked like the ones Cisco had used to remember the time line where Wells killed him. “I don't like to be kept waiting Reverb,” the growl said, and when Amy turned back around she saw a streak of blue light shoot into the clearing, and where it stopped there stood something shaped like a man in an all black Flash suit, but his whole form was bristling with streaks of blue lightening as it vibrated and blurred, and where a mask and cowl ought to have been was solid black with two black eyes shining from within.

“Apologies sir,” Francisco replied, his voice flat without it's usual smugness, “my companion wanted to be sure she looked nice before meeting with someone as important as yourself,”

The man shaped thing turned its gaze to Amy slowly, it's long pointed fingers curling at it's sides, “Your companion should be less concerned with her looks and more concerned with wasting my time,” 

Amy swallowed thickly, willing her legs not to shake as her knees grew weak with fear, “I'll keep that in mind,” she said, her voice surprisingly steady as she stood as straight as she could.

The thing tilted it's head to the side for a moment, as if contemplating her presence. Amy felt her eyes close in a blink, and when they opened again the thing's face was right in front of hers, black eyes and what she could now see to be a horrible jagged mouth design mere inches from her. She jumped back but managed not to scream, instead taking in a sharp breath and holding it as she forced herself to meet it's gaze. “You're a feisty one, aren't you?” it growled, sounding almost amused, “I rather enjoy the feisty ones, their much more fun to break,”

“What good would I be to you broken?” she asked, hoping that keeping up her sassy front would win her favor, “you don't even know what I can do yet,”

“No,” the thing agreed, “I don't,” in another blink it streaked across the clearing to stand beside Deathstorm, “luckily I brought someone who can help you with your demonstration,” it turned it's head towards Deathstorm and growled, “you know what to do,” then it streaked over to a felled tree and stood upon it, giving him an elevated view of the clearing.

The smirk from before returned to Deathstorm's face, “My favorite part,” he said, then he suddenly burst into flames, hurling a blast of them towards her. Amy managed to dodge them, but it was a near thing, the heat of them still warm of her face as she ducked behind a tree. “There's no use hiding doll,” Deathstorm taunted, “there's nothing around here I can't turn to ash, you might as well quit stalling and come have some fun!”

Amy could feel her pulse racing through her like a runaway train, every nerve in her body was on fire with adrenalin, and every instinct in her told her to run. She glanced around the side of the tree trunk, catching a glimpse of Francisco standing seemingly disinterested in the progression of events, but as she felt the anger rise in her at his detached behavior she remembered what he said to her on the way here:

' With your abilities, Zoom is probably the only thing you have to worry about '

'You better be right you arrogant little jerk!' she thought. Then she produced two orbs of energy in her hands and leapt into the clearing, hurling them one after the other in Deathstorm's direction.

“Woah,” Deathstorm said with an amused smile, easily dodging both as he shot into the air, “neat trick there doll, but lousy aim,” he began to circle above the clearing, “got no use for someone who can't hit their target, maybe I should show you how it's done?” he swooped past her, sending a spurt of flames her way, but she jumped and rolled, dodging them again. “Well aren't you quick on your feet!” Deathstorm called with a laugh, “this'll be more fun than I thought!”

“I wouldn't count on it hot head!” Amy called back, shooting two more blasts his way. She needed to think fast, needed to figure out a way to get him out of the air and back on her level. There was one thing she could try, but she'd never done it before, only theorized about it with Cisco, back when she was starting to train to help Barry in the field. As another blast of flames shot past her however, she decided it was her best bet at shooting him down. 

“Come on doll, I thought you were feisty!” Deathstorm taunted.

Amy glared up at him, “You have no idea,” she replied, then she took off running forming an orb in each hand as she went, heading straight for the tree with the widest trunk she could find.

“I told you there's no point in hiding!” another burst of flames, this one landing just behind her heels, but she kept going. Half way to her destination she leapt forward, aiming her hands towards the ground as she sent both orbs simultaneously. The resulting explosion sending a shock wave that held her in the air just long enough for her to reach the trunk of the tree, her body turning mid air to kick off from it, propelling her higher and straight in Deathstorm's path. 

“Well damn,” Francisco whispered, smirking slightly as he watched her fly, a bright red orb forming in her palm just before she collided with Deathstorm head on, smashing the energy against his chest before they both fell to the ground with a solid thump.

Amy could have screamed at the pain she felt upon impact with the forest floor, but she knew the fight wasn't over yet. Deathstorm was still conscious, which meant he might be able to flame up again and retaliate. She scrambled up, finding him sprawled but moving beside her. Before he could sit up she leapt at him, pinning him under her as she formed another orb, ready to bring it down right on him, when suddenly she felt something grab hold of her jacket collar, and the next thing she knew she was flying across the clearing, jerking to a stop where she was dropped to the ground by Zoom. “Looks like you're better use to me in one piece,” Zoom growled, Amy not bothering to try to get up as he looked down at her, “congratulations, you get to live to see tomorrow,” he sped over to Francisco, stopping inches from him as he growled, “you have done well bringing her to me, but see to it she learns to respect her superiors before I have to do it myself,” 

“Yes sir,” Francisco said with a nod, “I'll carve it into her somehow,” 

Zoom nodded, “Good,” he spared a glance back at Deathstorm, who had struggled into a standing position and was dusting himself off, “I'll be in touch,” he growled at last, then with another streak of blue, he was gone.

“Jesus Christ doll, you don't mess around do you?” Deathstorm chuckled as he limped towards Francisco, “where'd you find this chick anyway?” he asked earning a shrug from Francisco.

“She sort of, fell into my lap as it were,” Francisco replied, “I guess you could call it fate,”

Deathstorm nodded “Fate...sure,” he nodded to Amy, who was still in a heap on the ground a few feet away, “what's your name anyway?” he asked, “unless you like me calling you doll.”

Amy looked at him, slightly dazed from all that had happened, “My name is Am-”

“Red Star,” Francisco interrupted her, “she goes by the name Red Star,”

Deathstorm nodded, “Is that because you can shoot little stars out of your hands?” he asked in amusement.

Amy looked to Francisco who nodded to her, so she went with it, “Yeah, something like that,”

“Alright then Red Star, I suppose I'll be seeing you around,” he burst into flames again, “nice chat Reverb, you should bring her around to meet Frost sometime, it could be fun,”

Francisco rolled his eyes, “If by fun you mean watching a cat fight then count me out, I'm not into that sort of thing,” 

Deathstorm shrugged, “Whatever,” he said, then he shot into the air and flew off, leaving Amy and Francisco alone.

Amy sat staring out into the trees, trying to wrap her brain around what had just happened. Her meeting with Zoom had been a success, she'd passed his test and was alive...it was a lot to take in considering how terrified she had been before.

“That,” Francisco said as he came up beside her, “was magnificent,” he pulled her up and held her out so he could look at her, “my god you were gorgeous, the way you took him down mid air...” he sucked in a breath of air through his teeth as he grinned at her, “frankly I've never been so aroused,” 

Amy stared at him, her face twisting into a disgusted frown as his words reached her brain, “Are you fucking kidding me?” she snapped stepping away from him, “I could have died, and still all you can think about it getting in my pants?!”

Francisco shrugged, “I have my turn ons, you have yours,” he said cooly, “in any case what matters is you're in,” he clapped his hands together gleefully, “welcome to Zoom's crew”

Amy nodded but couldn't bring herself to feel excitement at his words. Yes she was incredibly relieved that Zoom hadn't killed her on the spot, but now she realized she would have to keep up the charade, she was going to have to keep Zoom believing she was useful. She was going to have to become a villain....


	14. Chapter 14

'You're a mess Amy, you just signed on to be a hired thug! Why would you do something like that? You're probably going to have to hurt people, or worse! Seriously Amy what were you thinking?!'

'Fight....win'

Amy's head throbbed as her own inner voice battled with Cisco's, conflicted between making a break for it for the sake of her own moral standards, or following through on the unwritten contract she'd just signed to do the dirty work of the scariest meta she'd ever met. She knew that if she tried to run, she wasn't likely to survive long, and any time she would have would be spent trying to survive on the street so in a sense it would be a toss up of who would kill her first, Zoom or the rest of this foreign world. But staying meant going against everything she had ever stood for in her entire life, it would mean using her powers for terrible things that she didn't even want to try to imagine, and even that might not guarantee she would stay alive for very long, because Zoom wasn't exactly a reasonable guy, and didn't seem the type to give second chances.

'What happens when you find a way back home?' 

At that Amy's head throbbed harder, the prospect of finding a way home seeming to her like a distant unattainable dream now, like trying to touch a star. 

' Red Star, she goes by the name Red Star '

“Red Star...” she tested the name out, whispering it to herself as she sat on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin atop them, “...I wonder where he came up with that?”

' Is that because you can shoot little stars out of your hands? '

Amy couldn't help but chuckle, “if that's really it then that's hilarious,” she said shaking her head. She didn't believe it was though, Francisco didn't seem like the obvious type, in fact he was pretty damn mysterious if she really thought about him.

'And what the hell was that shiver earlier, huh? Who the hell starts feeling attracted to someone who literally beat you up to get you to use your powers? Unbelievable...'

“I am not attracted to him...” she replied indignantly, but as soon as she did she heard the small secret voice whispering to her.

'He saved your life' it said softly, 'and everything he has done has helped you, even if he was hard on you, it brought you to where you are now...'

“Where I am now?” She snorted, “where I am now is between a rock and a hard place, how does that make him attractive?”

'He believes in you,' the small voice answered 'he thinks you are strong and capable of handling yourself, he respects you...'

“Respects me? Are you kidding?” She fell back against her pillows, “He respects me about as far as I can spit...”

'You know that's not true,' the small voice was getting a little louder now, 'you've seen how he behaves, you've seen the flashes in his eyes.....where else have you seen that behavior?'

Amy thought back, to all the times she'd seen something flash in Francisco's eyes that she couldn't quite make out, flashes of something that wasn't smug confidence, or anger, but seemed to be something softer. Then she tried to recall where she'd seen that behavior before and her stomach lurched as she realized “Eobard Thawne...” his name alone made her skin crawl. He had behaved in a similar way she remembered, in those few days before they discovered his true identity, flashes of sadness shining in his eyes every so often, something he explained to be his conflicted mindset on killing Barry once they had him locked in a cell. He'd said that creating Barry and looking after him all this time had planted within him a seed of affection for Barry, and that is why he had kept the charade up for so long, despite Barry's exponential improvements. “What does he have to do with Francisco though?” she asked the small voice, but she didn't need it to answer, her brain was already beginning to put the pieces together. Eobard Thawne, the charade, the seed of affection. He had been hiding something. He had behaved the way he did because even underneath all that psychosis of his, he has been hiding something and had struggled with the weight of it, causing slip ups that only a few people saw.

“Is Francisco hiding something from me?” 

Admittedly the thought was a little ridiculous, because on one hand the thought process leading up to the question was rather backward honestly; so what if he happened to have weird flashes of unreadable emotions in his eyes, and so what if Thawne had exhibited a semi similar behavior, they were two completely different people in two completely different universes, and that sort of behavior was not mutually exclusive to the act of hiding something from someone else. And then on the other hand, it was equally ridiculous to ask the question because they weren't friends anyway, if Francisco wanted to keep details of his life private then that was entirely his prerogative, Amy didn't need to know everything about his life. But as she continued to think on how ridiculous the question was, she found herself actually contemplating if it were true as well. 

'He knew your name Amy,' the small voice piped up again, 'how did he know that?'

“Well he can see into other dimensions, and he admitted to watching mine so....”

'No' the voice argued, 'Cisco never called you by that name, Mom never called you by that name...'

“Well maybe he's looked into the past, maybe he saw it that way,”

'Why would he look that far back Amy? You haven't used that name since you were a child...'

“ Maybe-” but she stopped short. The small voice was right, she had stopped going by Amaryllis when she moved schools after fourth grade, on her first day at her new school she told everyone to call her Amy and it had been that way ever since. He had no reason to look into her childhood, if he could even look that far back at all. The furthest she could conceivably see him looking back would be to the day she met Cisco, but that was only because he was Cisco's doppelganger. Then it hit her, the sudden realization making her dizzy as the small voice asked.

'Where is your doppelganger Amy? Where is this Earth's Amaryllis Warren?'

All the flashes of unreadable emotions suddenly became clear, the strange behavior, even agreeing to potentially put his life at risk for someone who didn't belong in this dimension. It wasn't her powers that had motivated him, it was her. She didn't know why, or how, but she knew that in some way the Amaryllis Warren of this Earth had some connection to Francisco, and she was going to find out what that connection was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Francisco sat in his living room, a glass of soda in his hand as he relaxed, rolling his head back against the cushions of the sofa and staring at the ceiling. Today had been an interesting day to say the least, but with Amy finally on Zoom's crew he felt a tremendous weight had been lifted from him, the fear of being found out with a breacher gone now leaving him almost giddy with relief. He didn't stop to think about whether the relief was truly because of his reassured safety or if it was because Amy would now be safer, not wanting to set that particular emotional ship sailing yet; so he simply sat there, content in his lowered stress levels as he sipped his drink and lounged around his apartment. 

He lifted his head at the noise of the door to Amy's suite opening, his trademark smug smile donning his face as he saw her emerge, now wearing one of the shirts and pairs of sweatpants he had given her. “Warren, what brings you to this side of the hall?” he asked gesturing around the apartment, “you're not looking to finally take me up on my offer to give you a tour of my bed are you? Because I'm happy to oblige but I would ask for a moment to prepare myself first,” he grinned at her, but the look of cold determination on Amy's face killed his smile almost immediately. He wasn't entirely sure why, but seeing her looking at him like that worried him a little, “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, “are you contemplating trying to kill me again or-?”

“I want to know something,” Amy said cutting him off.

Francisco blinked at her before shrugging his shoulders, “Ok then, what is it you want to know?” he asked, slightly confused at her odd behavior.

“You're Cisco's doppelganger,” she said, which puzzled him further since it wasn't a question, “which means you both look a like, sound a like, have the same name and everything, right?”

Francisco nodded slowly, unsure of where this was going considering they had already discussed this, “Yes, Cisco and I are for the most part twins, but you already knew that so-”

“Where is mine?”

The question stopped Francisco dead, his voice choking in his throat as his heart skipped a beat. Of course this was where she was going, it was obvious now that he thought about it, and he had walked right into this like a fool, too distracted in his relaxation.

“Where is your what?” he asked, his voice a little shaky as he tried desperately to delay the coming conversation.

“You know what Reverb,” Amy answered, her voice and eyes cold as ice, “where is my doppelganger, and how do you know her?”

'You ignorant little fool,' the voice in his head hissed 'you actually believed you could get away with this and she wouldn't figure it out....she's your doppelganger's best friend Francisco, why did you think you could ever hide this from her?'

' I'm not like him, he's simple and naive...' he thought back ' he's still a child, I am nothing like him!'

'And yet she figured out your little secret...'

'I can still lie to her, tell her I don't know anything about it, deny everything-'

'She'll see right through you if you do'

Francisco wanted to argue that but he couldn't, he knew she would see he was lying, which left him with only one terrible option. Carefully he set his drink on the coffee table and stood up, Amy watching him as he silently moved around the couch and went down the hallway towards his bedroom and the bathroom. She contemplated following him, but soon he came back with a small lock box in his hands. He set it next to his drink with the same care and precision before reaching down the front of his shirt and pulling up a key held by a thin black string tied around his neck. Amy wondered for a moment how she hadn't noticed it before, but then he lifted the key and string from around his neck, and held it out to her, pushing the lock box across the table towards her.

“Everything you need to know is in this box,” he said, his voice quiet as he looked down at the box instead of at her face, “I haven't opened it in over a year, and I don't exactly want to let you open it now, but I suppose it's only fair under the circumstances,” he took a deep breath, his hand beginning to shake ever so slightly as he continued to hold out the key, “I don't expect you to like what's inside, and I don't expect anything in here to change your opinion of me, nor do I really care if it does, but before you do open it I want you to know one thing,”

Amy nodded, almost regretting now the fact that she even asked about her double, “What's that then?” she asked, her voice as quiet as his.

Francisco's jaw clenched, every nerve in his body screaming at him to stop what was about to happen at all costs, but it was too late now. Slowly he turned to face her, his eyes meeting hers in a tense gaze, “The woman you're about to meet is not you, nor are you her,” he said, his voice firm as he spoke, “you are two completely different people and there is nothing that can change that, nothing that will make you more like her, so if what you find in this box does change your opinion of me, be sure that you remember that before you act upon that new mindset,”

'Was that lie supposed to convince her, or you?' 

Francisco ignored the voice as he continued to hold Amy's gaze. “Do you understand me?” he asked.

Amy reached out her hand and grasped the key in his hand, “Perfectly,” she replied, and as his fingers released the key to her all she could think was 'what have I just gotten myself into?'


	15. Chapter 15

“Hey Cisco,” Iris smiled at him as she opened the front door, “how you been?”

He had arrived half an hour early to the dinner Joe had invited him to, partially because he decided that he didn't want to be cooped up in his apartment anymore, but mostly because ever since Joe had mentioned Amy, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her.

Cisco smiled back at her as she let him in, “Hey Iris, I've been alright,” he held his arms open inviting a hug, “how about you?”

Iris took his offer and hugged him, “Alright I guess,” she answered with a sigh, “still getting used to things, but y'know...I'm getting there,” 

Cisco nodded as they separated, “Well I'm glad you're getting through it and not eating your weight in ice cream or something,” he teased playfully.

Iris chuckled at that, “Mmmm, I've definitely thought about it,” she teased back as Joe emerged from the kitchen.

“Hey Cisco, you made it!” Joe smiled at him, “and you're early to!”

“I got hungry,” Cisco said with a shrug, “besides I've been cooped up in my apartment for a while now, I was excited for an opportunity to get out,”

“Alright, well dinner is gonna be another ten twenty minutes, I just got done mashing the potatoes, all that's left is for the meatloaf to finish cooking and for me to toast some rolls, but you know, make yourself at home, there's beer and stuff in the fridge if you want,”

“Thanks Joe,” Cisco said, “but I don't think I'm gonna be drinking tonight,”

Joe shrugged, “Suit yourself,” he nodded to Iris, “any word from Barry yet?” he asked.

Iris shook her head, “Nope, he hasn't texted me back,”

Joe sighed, “Well if he wants his dinner hot and not microwaved, he better be here soon,” he said shaking his head. 

As Joe went back into the kitchen Cisco frowned, “Barry isn't gonna be here?” he asked, unable to hide the disappointment from his voice.

Iris shrugged, “Dunno, he left the station around two, he told dad he was going to be working on some Flash stuff and he hasn't really told us much else,” she sat on the couch, “I mean I'm sure he'd alright, but it would be nice if he could pretend to be part of the family...”

Cisco sat next to her, his frown deepening, “Does he know I was invited for dinner tonight?” he asked cautiously.

“Yeah, I told him that like, three hours ago, and he hasn't responded accept with 'k.'” she took her phone out of her pocket to check again, but still there was nothing.

Cisco nodded his brain working on its own, a little voice telling him 'he's avoiding you' 

Iris seemed to read his mind, “It's not because of you,” she said patting his knee, “Barry just gets caught up in his work when he's upset, and being The Flash is kinda the same thing, he's just having a little more trouble working through everything than some of us are.

“Well maybe if he talk to his friends he wouldn't be,” Cisco muttered bitterly.

Iris nodded, “Dad told me you'd said he hasn't spoken to you recently,” she took hold of his arm, hugging it to her chest as she rested her head on his shoulder, “I'm sorry Cisco, I know how close you guys are, I'm sure he's got a reason,”

Cisco rested his head atop hers and gave his own sigh, “Yeah, maybe you're right,” he agreed sullenly.

“I know Barry,” she told him confidently, “he has to have a reason,”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You want me to do what now?” Cisco asked as he Joe and Iris sat around the dining room table eating.

“I want you to be the scientific adviser for the CCPD's new meta-human task force,” Joe repeated, “Captain Singh wants us to be better prepared to deal with metas should we come across any, and so he and I have been talking about creating a special meta-human task force so that The Flash isn't the only one dealing with them,”

Cisco prodded his slice of meat loaf as he listened to him, the idea was honestly intriguing, but it wasn't the same as working in Star Labs, “Would I be getting a lab at the department or-?”

Joe shook his head, “Well no, not unless Barry wants to share his lab, which is honestly more trouble than it's' worth,” he took a bite of mashed potatoes as he added, “I figured you could work from your workshop in Star Labs, and just have whatever you make ready to use should we need it,”

Cisco nodded, “So basically you want me to spy on Barry for you?”

Iris snorted as she took a sip of her drink, Joe merely shrugged, “I'm not saying yes, but having a set of eyes on Barry while he's running around being a super hero wouldn't be a terrible thing,” he wiped his mouth as he went on, “I mean he might not like it at first, but you are going to have an actual job with the CCPD so he can't say you're lying, and it's just you and not everyone else, so he can't say we're forcing the team back together, so it's a win win in my book,”

“What happened to giving him space?” Iris asked, “don't you think it's rude of us to just ignore that he might need some time to sort some stuff out?”

“I'm with Iris on that one Joe,” Cisco agreed, “I mean Barry and I are friends, but it's not cool to just force myself on him,” he didn't say it, but in his mind he thought 'even if I do want to find him and tell him he's being a shitty best friend'

Joe put his hands up in front of him, “Look, I get the whole Barry needing time thing, but you and I both know how Barry can get when he's upset about something,” he said looking pointedly at Iris, “and like you said, the two of you are friends, so act like it, you don't have to be sitting on the coms the whole time, just be around so that if he does feel like talking he knows you're there,” he gave Cisco a pleading look that made Cisco feel suddenly incredibly guilty.

He let out a heavy sigh “Fine, I'll do it, but on one condition,” Cisco said, setting his fork and knife down carefully, he straightened his back and tilted his chin up, looking very self important he said, “I want a CCPD badge,” he said in his best haughty voice.

Joe laughed at him, “I'll talk to Singh, see what I can do,” he promised, “so you're in?”

Cisco nodded, “Yeah I guess,” he grinned, “to the new CCPD meta-human task force!” he said, raising his glass of soda in the air.

Joe and Iris followed suit, “To the task force!” they said together, before all three clinked their cups together. It wasn't Team Flash, but it was the next best thing, and Cisco would take anything he could get at this point to bring back the feeling that he was wanted, that he was a part of something bigger...that he wasn't alone.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner turned into dinner and a card game, with Iris destroying both Joe and Cisco at several rounds of War that lasted until around midnight when Joe decided he needed to get to bed for his shift tomorrow. Cisco and Iris reluctantly agreed to call it quits, and soon Cisco was on his way out the door with a small Tupperware container of food in his hands. “Thanks again for inviting me Joe, and for the doggy bag,” he said, embracing Joe in the doorway.

“Hey, thanks for coming,” Joe replied with a smile, “just make sure I get that container back, or I'm gonna come and get it, understood?”

“Yes sir detective,” Cisco said with a mock salute, “I promise you will have your precious Tupperware back, empty and washed,”

Joe nodded, “Good,”

Iris shook her head as Joe waved goodnight to both of them and headed up the stairs, “He'll forget you even have I in a week,” she whispered to Cisco who laughed.

“Well this food isn't gonna last a week,” he told her, “in fact it might not last the night, I get hungry at weird hours of the night,”

It was Iris's turn to laugh, “Well then it's a good thing you've got real food to eat instead of whatever is in your candy stash,”

Cisco shook his head, “Nah I'll probably eat some candy to,” they both laughed at that. Once the laughter died down however, Cisco's smile seemed to fall a little, his eyes shifting down to his feet, “I guess whatever reason Barry had for not being here tonight was pretty big huh?” he asked, giving Iris a sheepish look as she frowned sympathetically at him.

“Cisco come on, you know Barry almost as well as I do,” she said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, “he might not be the best at talking to people about his feelings, but he doesn't just flat out avoid them, especially not his best bro Cisco Ramon,” Cisco perked up at her description of him.

“You're right, but I still wish I could've talked to him for a bit, y'know?” Cisco sighed, “just make sure he's alright and everything,”

Iris nodded, “I know Cisco I know; but hey, this new task force thing will give you the perfect opportunity to do just that right? I mean you two are bound to run into each other in the lab at some point, you two can talk then,”

Cisco smiled slightly, “Yeah I guess so,” he shrugged, “either way it was good seeing you, I'm proud of you Iris, you could be shut up in your room bawling your eyes out but here you are, being a wonderful hostess,” 

Iris smiled back, “Eddie wouldn't want me to be miserable,” she said with a resolute nod, “and speaking of, I'm proud of you to, getting out, socializing with friends instead of sitting at home by yourself thinking about Amy,”

Cisco's smile twitched a little at the mention of her name, “Amy and I were just friends though, so it's not really the same situation...” 

Iris gave him a knowing look, “You're right, it's not the same,” she agreed, “because you didn't get to tell her did you?”

Cisco felt his stomach drop at the directness of her statement, “H-how did you-?”

“I saw the way you two looked at each other when you thought the other wasn't looking,” Iris explained, “honestly, the tension between you two was so thick, I don't even think Barry could have phased through it, and I'm so sorry that she was taken away before either of you had a chance to say anything,”

Cisco was frowning now, a little confused, “Before either of us....you mean she...?” Iris only nodded, and Cisco had to swallow the lump in his throat before it suffocated him. He clenched his jaw for a moment, willing the tears that were desperately trying to escape to go back where they came from, “I'd ask how you knew that, but I feel like the answer is some woman's intuition thing or something,” he said, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

Iris gave him a pitiful look, “I'm so sorry Cisco, I shouldn't have said anything-”

“No,” Cisco stopped her, “no it's fine, I'm glad actually, now that I know I don't have to wonder anymore,” he felt the tears threatening even harder now, “listen, thanks again Iris, I'll text you or something later, ok?” he started to back away from the door.

“Ok,” Iris agreed, “just...be careful alright?”

“Will do, thanks!” Cisco called back, already turned around and practically jogging towards the street. He managed to keep his calm long enough to call a cab and get home, but once again, with the door finally shut behind him, he felt his knees go weak as he clutched at his stomach, stumbling into the living room. He collapsed, face first on his sofa, burying his head under one of the throw pillows.

“Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!” he growled, over and over as he beat at the arm rest with his clenched fists, “you had all that time and you didn't tell her! You idiot!” he kicked his legs back, beating his feet against the other arm rest angrily. This went on for a few more minutes until with one good smack of his fist, he howled in pain and shot up, clutching his arm to his chest as he hissed. “Serves you right you moron,” he found himself muttering as he went to the freezer for ice, “you deserve this for being such a damn coward,” he wrapped a few ice cubes in a towel and pressed them to his hand roughly, hissing again at the contact. “Get over it Ramon, quit being such a wimp,” he slumped back down on the sofa, the container of food he'd brought home forgotten on the floor at his feet. He felt so angry with himself, he contemplated throwing the food out just so that he couldn't eat it later, but he decided against it since it would be a waste. Instead he just sat on the couch and stared off into space, his eyes unfocused as he thought back to all the times he could have said something, anything to let Amy know how he felt about her, and didn't out of fear. 

Hot angry tears began to leak from his eyes, and as he blinked them away his eyes focused on the photo from before, right back where he left it under the TV. He began to stare at it from afar, realizing it was photographic evidence of a time when he could have told Amy how he felt, sitting right on a shelf in his living room, taunting him.

“You could've told her then dummy,” he said as he remembered how she'd put her arm around his waist to get the perfect angle for the picture, “you could've turned to her right then and had her kiss your lips and not your cheek, you could've told her all you wanted for your birthday was a kiss from her and she would've known....stupid...”

'Cisco...” he could hear her voice in his head, the sound of his name as she spoke making his chest ache, 'Happy Birthday Cisco...here's a kiss for good luck!' he touched a hand to his cheek, remembering the softness of her lips there, 'now make a wish and say cheese!' his wish was as clear as a bell in his head, he'd wished for the courage to tell her he liked her, to tell her he loved her, that she was beautiful and amazing and he adored her to the ends of the earth. But his wish never came true, and here he was, looking at the exact moment his wish was made, wishing for nothing more than to have Amy beside him again, to have one more chance to tell her she was the sun, and that he was blind in the dark without her....


	16. Chapter 16

“Amaryllis Warren, 24, was found dead outside Star Labs last night, after a small explosion resulted in the particle accelerator experiment being conducted that night to be shut down. Investigators say the cause of death was heart failure due to extreme electric shock, no word yet on whether Ms. Warren was a part of the Star Labs teams working to contain the explosion, however sources report that she was found outside without any Star Labs identification. It is possible that she was simply unaware of the evacuation going underway at the time of the explosion, which resulted in her unknowingly endangering herself. Ms. Warren will be greatly missed.”

Amy felt like she wanted to be sick. The small cutting from a newspaper held in her hand had a picture to accompany the obituary, it looked like a senior photo from high school...it looked like her senior photo. The only real difference was the way her hair was done, it was up in victory rolls under her white graduation cap, and although the photo was black and white, you could see the slight dark color of her lips, and Amy could tell she was wearing a little makeup which Amy hadn't done for her own. It was totally surreal, like looking at the newspaper from the time vault Thawne had hidden, only she wasn't looking at her own future or her own past, it was someone else's life, someone else's death....someone who looked just like her. The entire box was her life story in a way, pictures of her from what she assumed was college, more clippings of articles for awards and school commendations, little pieces of her life collected and locked away for safe keeping. There was one picture in particular that caught Amy's attention, it was of her doppelganger smiling in a white lab coat with three other people beside her, two of the others she didn't recognize, but right next to her with a smile of his own as he help up a small trophy was Francisco; but he didn't look like the edgy, dark eyed man who sat across from her now, he looked young and happy and....he looked like her Cisco.

“She was your....?” She didn't want to say friend, it didn't feel right, this level of mourning wasn't done for mere friends, but at the same time she didn't want to say girlfriend because if that were true then what did that make her now?

“She was my friend,” Francisco finished for her, “a very close friend, and yes I did love her but I missed my chance to tell her,” he stood then disappearing into the kitchen only to return with a bottle of whiskey in his hand, “she's the reason I was even there that night, or rather I'm the reason she was....” he poured the whiskey into his soda and nudged it towards her, swigging directly from the bottle himself.

“What do you mean the reason you were there?” Amy frowned, “reason you were where?”

“Star Labs,” He said, his voice rougher from the drink, “we wanted to see the accelerator turn on, so we made a plan to go together,” he shook his head, a bitter smile on his face, “I made a goddamn picnic basket,” he took another swig and sat back down, “I thought it would be nicer if we were away from the crowds, then I could tell her...anyway we were around the back of the facility when we heard they were evacuating, so we ran for it, only I was too slow and when she stopped so I could catch up...” he wiggled his fingers and made an explosion noise before leaning back against the couch, “she died right in front of me and I couldn't do anything about it,”

“Oh my god...” Amy gasped, imagining the whole scene in her head; but as she did she found her mind blurring between the worlds, she saw Amaryllis one second then herself the next, and off to the side it was Cisco and Francisco simultaneously, the whole thing giving her a headache. She felt incredibly bad for him, the sudden urge to get up and hug him tugging at her, but she stayed put on the floor, choosing to dig in the box some more. Near the bottom, she found a picture frame, only inside wasn't a picture, it was a pressed flower. It was an Amaryllis she recognized, its petals white near the center but blooming out into a bright red. Suddenly she knew where the name had come from, Red Star, that was the name of this strain of the flower she was named for. Scrawled in tiny writing at the bottom right was a message 'Happy birthday to my Red Star -Francisco'. It broke her heart just to read it.

“It was her favorite, that strain,” Francisco explained, nodding to the pressing, “she always said she would fill her house with them if she could, so I gave her that to start her collection,”

Amy stared down at it, unable to look at him, “Is that why you chose it?” she asked, placing the frame gingerly back in the box, “you told Ronnie....Deathstorm that was the name I went by....is it because I look like-”

“It's because it fit,” Francisco cut her off, “like he said, you shoot little stars out of your hands, they are red, it fits.”  
'No,' she thought, 'he's lying.' 

“I don't believe you,” she said, finally looking up at him, “you chose it because of her,” then a realization hit her, “you saved me because of her....all of...all of this is because I have her face,” the sick feeling was coming back now, “oh my god you're using me to replace her-”

“No,” Francisco shot forward in his seat, his voice and eyes harsh and angry, “you could never replace her, she was everything that you are not, she was smart and strong and wonderful, you are another universe's hopeless attempt at copying her and the only thing that your world got right was the way she looked,” he stood up again, pacing now like a caged tiger, “I told you that before I gave you the fucking key, you are not her and you never will be,”

“Then why?” Amy asked, getting angry now herself,“why save me to begin with? You said yourself that I don't belong here, why not kill me when you had the chance?!”

“Because you intrigued me!” He shouted, rounding on her, “I didn't know what to expect from a breacher, so I kept you alive to see what would happen,” he pointed at her with the now half empty whiskey bottle, “your resemblance to her was merely a coincidence,”

“Is that what you told yourself?” Amy snapped back. Francisco growled at her, she sounded like the voice in his head. “You tricked me so that I would go with you, you lied to me!”

“Oh what, about knowing your name?” Francisco gave a short bitter laugh, “there was a fifty fifty chance your name was Amaryllis, you were the one who confirmed that it was, and for your information I did see what happened before you came through the breach, I saw you and my doppelganger and I took a chance that your names were the same, so get over it,”

“And when you tried to kiss me?” Amy asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“Do you mean when you had your hands up my shirt?” he asked, “when you molested me?”

“That was only to get you to fess up about fantasizing about me!” Amy defended, “which you did admit to I might add!”

“Oh I told you what you wanted to hear sweetheart!” Francisco said with a derisive laugh, “there was an attractive woman with her hands on me in a way that could only be taken as an invitation, what did you expect me to do?”

Amy gave him an incredulous look, “And all the flirting?” she asked, “how do you explain that?”

“Easy, it grossed you out,” he said, “every time I said something suggestive to you, you were repulsed, so I kept it up to make sure you didn't start to develop feelings for me since I happen to look like your precious Cisco,”

Amy stared at him, her heart thundering in her chest at his words. He had thought the same thing, he had thought she would see Cisco's face on him and forget what was real....but what neither of them had anticipated was that she would see him for who he was and still feel attracted to him. “So all of this was just some experiment for you?” she asked him slowly, “some drawn out study with me as your subject?”

Francisco shrugged, “That's a rather clinical way of putting it, but yes I suppose you're right,”

Amy nodded, straightening herself as she took a deep breath in, “Well your experiment stops now,” she said, her tone even and calm, “I told you I would leave when I got my powers back,” she produced an orb in her hand and held it up for him to see, “time for me to go,” she dissipated the orb and went for the door, not even caring that she was in her pajamas, bare foot and vulnerable, she just had to get out.

“Where are you gonna go?” Francisco asked skeptically from behind her, “you think you can just run away? Zoom has a habit of finding people sweetheart, you're not gonna be able to hide for long,”

Amy stopped, turning to look back at him one last time, “It doesn't matter where I go, or whether he finds me or not, I'm already on his team now remember? All that matters now is that I get away from you,” she turned, putting her hand on the door handle as she said, “I hate you anyway, remember?” and with that she was gone, the door closing behind her with a soft click.

 

Francisco stood where he was for a several minutes, staring at the door as though he expected her to come back. The bottle of whiskey in his hands felt heavy, the only thing he was sure of in that moment. Finally he seemed to come to his senses, and with an angry roar he tossed the bottle with all his might at the doorway leading to the adjoined suite, the whole thing shattering in a shower of glass and liquor across the wood. “God fucking-AHHHHH!!!!” he roared again, kicking the side of the couch, then a chair, then the table, sending it and the box on top flying in a mess across the room. “Shit!” he hissed, scrambling to retrieve the box and it's contents, carefully wiping the drops of soda and liquor that had touched them when the drink had gone flying with them. 

He stopped at the clipping of Amaryllis' obituary, the article folded over so that the only thing visible was her picture. He stared down at it for a moment before he felt the tears sting his eyes. “What am I supposed to do Amaryllis?” he asked the photo desperately, “what was I supposed to do when I found her? She had your face for fuck's sake, I thought that some how you had come back to me-” he balled his hand into a fist, smacking it against his forehead, “but she wasn't you, could never be you, she's so fierce and angry and...” he chocked on the word beautiful, but he had already thought it in his mind, “she's like a storm when you were spring rain, she's so very very different...”

'But you like her just the same,'

This time it wasn't the vicious little voice he'd grown used to, the one that told him how worthless he was and whispered in his ear to remind him of all his mistakes, this one was different. This was Amaryllis.

“She's not mine though,” he told her, “there's another world with another Francisco waiting for her,”

'He thinks she's dead,' the voice pointed out, 'and only you can send her back, who's to say you have to?'

“She would never stay with me, she hates me, she said it herself,”

'You hurt her, you told her she wasn't good enough, you lied...'

“I was afraid, I-” he squeezed his eyes shut against the vision in his head, the flash of the night she died, “...I can't lose you again...” he whispered.

'Then don't,' the voice replied, 'go after her, apologize, tell her the truth....'

“And if she doesn't accept the truth?”

'She will,' the voice answered confidently, 'after all, you and her are in love in multiple universes, that has to count for something....'

Francisco looked down that the picture one more time before placing it gingerly in the box and shutting the lid, he sighed as he twisted the key out, replacing it around his neck as he stood, “I certainly hope it does,” he whispered as he started down the hall to his room, “I really need it to....”


	17. Chapter 17

'you could never replace her, she was everything that you are not,'

'I never wanted to be like her, you lied to me'

'she was smart and strong and wonderful, you are another universe's hopeless attempt at copying her,'

'you've lied to me this whole time, you told me I was strong, and yet here I am lost and barefoot, crying on a fucking street corner because of you!'

“Um...excuse me?”

Amy jolted out of her warring thoughts, hastily wiping the tears from her face as she looked up at the young girl who had approached her.

“Oh god, sorry I didn't mean to startle you,” the girl said, putting her hands up to show she meant no harm, “I just....I saw you crying here and...well I thought...are you alright?”

The girl seemed harmless enough, dressed in what looked like gym clothes with a bag over her shoulder. Amy looked up at her for a moment, contemplating whether she would answer honestly or simply tell the girl she was fine to get her to go away, but as she looked up into the girl's sweet and honest looking face, she felt herself crack just a little.

“I'm not entirely sure,” Amy said, with a watery smile, “I didn't think very far ahead when I....well lets just say I left in a hurry,” she shrugged, looking down at her still bare feet. She'd made it several blocks out of sheer anger, stomping onward until she realized she had no money, no shoes, and nowhere to go. She'd sat down at a bus stop bench, and that's when the tears had started, silent but uncontrollable tears that rolled in hot lines down her face as she recalled all that had happened between her and Francisco earlier.

The girl sat beside her then, putting her bag between them as she gave her a sympathetic look, “do you need me to call someone for you?” she offered, pulling out a phone, “a friend? Maybe the police?”

Amy had already thought about going to the CCPD, but like Francisco had said, Zoom would probably find her, and if she were with the police he would almost certainly kill her. “I don't have any friends,” she told the girl quietly, “I'm not from around here,”

“Oh,” the girl frowned, “well is there anything I can do?” she put a hand on Amy's shoulder and Amy nearly broke down crying again at the sincerity of her offer.

“I don't think so,” Amy replied, “not unless you have a million dollars you can loan me indefinitely,” she tried to joke, hoping it might lift her spirits, but no.

The girl laughed however, understanding the attempt, “Well not a million,” she said, opening the bag, “but I do have a few bucks I can spare,” she pulled out a small fold up wallet, out of which she withdrew two one hundred dollar bills.

Amy stared at her in disbelief, scooting away from her slightly as she offered her the money, “Are you kidding me? I can't take that!” she said, looking around to see if she were about to be arrested in some insane set up for something. Who the hell just gave out hundred dollar bills like that? 

She was about to jump up and start running when the girl shook her head, “No no, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you, it's not a trick!” she stuffed the money away quickly, “I just....Oh man....look it's birthday money, from my dad he...he kind of spoils me even though I tell him not to, so I thought maybe if I did something good with it...” she gave Amy a nervous look, “I guess shady deals with strangers at night isn't the best way to do that huh?”

Amy could not believe this girl, “No I'd say it isn't,” she agreed. The girl looked no older than eighteen, innocent and sweet and far too trusting for Amy's comfort, “what are you even doing here anyway?” she looked around, seeing nothing but empty office buildings, “do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be out, alone, at night?”

The girl shrugged, “I know, I was on my way home,” she nodded down the way Amy had come from, “my dad and I live in one of the buildings down that way, the Silver Terraces, do you know them?” Amy shook her head no, “Oh well, they're sorta fancy apartments...anyway I just got dropped off by the bus a few blocks down, I just wanted to walk a little to clear my head, I have a huge paper due for my college English class, and I haven't started it yet because I can't think what to write and-” she stopped short, pressing her lips together before saying, “I'm rambling....sorry,”

“No it's...it's fine,” Amy said, actually managing a small smile. This girl was in school, and all she was concerned with was her English paper, and probably what party she was gonna go to this weekend, and it made Amy nostalgic for those days. Back when things were so much simpler. 

“Do you go to the college?” The girl asked conversationally, “I haven't seen you there before, but it's a pretty big campus...”

Amy shook her head, “No, I haven't been in college for a few years now,” she said looking down at her hands.

“Oh, well did you graduate or did you...?”

“I graduated,” Amy laughed softly, “I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering actually,” 

The girl perked up, “Wow really, that's one of my majors!”

“Cool,” Amy replied, “how many do you have?”

“Five,” The girl replied.

Amy spluttered, “Five?!”

The girl shrugged, “Well yeah,” she leaned in and whispered, “I'm kind of super smart, and I want to make my dad proud,”

Amy nodded slowly, “Well shoot for the stars I guess,” 

The girl giggled, “I am, or rather Star Labs,” 

Amy had to laugh at that, “Well with that many majors you're probably over qualified,”

The girl nodded, “Yeah,” she agreed, “but back to you, if you don't want the money, then what else?” 

Amy sighed, “It's not that I don't want the money, believe me, I just....I'd feel bad for taking it?” she shook her head, “I dunno, it just seems odd, taking so much money from a sweet girl like you who just happens to be passing by,”

“I totally understand,” the girl said, putting her hands on her chest, “but I promise you I'm not like....and undercover cop or something, besides its not like its a transaction or anything, I'm just giving it to you,”

Amy bit her lip as she thought it over, “What would I do with it?” she asked, “I mean I don't even know where I would go...”

The girl nodded, “Well, there is a hotel two blocks that way, and I know the guy who works the desk,” she smiled, blushing a little, “he's one of my classmates,”

Amy smiled at her, “Ooh, a special one I take it?”

The girl blushed even harder, “Maybe,” she agreed, with a small giggle, “either way he's a friend, I could call him if you want? Tell him to get you a room....maybe at a discount,” she winked at Amy making Amy chuckle.

Reluctantly Amy agreed, “What's this place called?” she asked.

“Rathaway Suites,” 

'Of course it is,' Amy thought to herself, maybe she'd run into this worlds Hartley to while she was at it, add to the growing list of doppelgangers she'd met of people she knew from home. “Thank you,” Amy said, with as much sincerity as she could muster, “you're very kind,”

The girl waved her thanks away, “You were alone, crying at a bus stop, this isn't kindness this is basic human decency,” she put the phone up to her ear, “hey David, it's Jessie, yeah I know it's late and you're at work, but listen...I need a favor?” Jessie looked over to Amy, giving her a thumbs up, “I have a friend who really needs a place to stay for the night, can she come get a room? Yes she can pay for it, just answer the question....She can? Great thanks!” she hung up and grinned at Amy, “Success! Now we just gotta get you there,”

“Oh I can get there on my own,” Amy assured her, “you get home, your dad will probably be worried,”

Jessie grimaced, “Yeah you're right, dad is pretty fussy,” she opened the wallet again, and handed her the money, “two blocks, down that way, be careful!” she stood up and started walking away, Amy following suit, when suddenly she turned back, “Wait!” she cried, jogging back towards her, “take these,” she rummaged in her bag again, pulling out a pair of plain black flats, “I mean if they fit, that is,”

Amy took the shoes from her, “You're giving me your shoes to?”

Jessie shrugged, “I told you, my dad spoils me, I have more than enough shoes,”

Amy nodded, trying them on, “they fit,” she said, tapping her feet a little, “thank you, so much, really you are...you are a wonderful person Jessie,”

Jessie smiled, “Any time- oh, ha I didn't ask, what's your name?”

“It's Am-” she stopped short, realizing she didn't want to put this girl in danger by telling her her real name; but then she realized she could do just that and keep her safe, “my name is Amaryllis,” she told her, swallowing down the pain as the name reminded her of Francisco.

Jessie nodded “Oh ok, like the flower,” she held out her hand for Amy to shake, “any time Amaryllis,”

Amy shook her hand and watched her leave, a small smile on her face as she did. This world had been nothing but dark and harsh and horrible since she first arrived, everything had gone so wrong she felt it aching in her very core, but this one girl, this one kind sweet girl gave her enough hope to go on. “Thank you Jessie, you're one in a million,” she said to herself as she started in the direction she had indicated. She sighed as she went, content enough in the knowledge that she had a place to stay and shoes on her feet, and maybe a little money in her pocket depending on how much of a discount Jessie's 'special friend' was willing to give.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Rathaway Suites,” Francisco muttered to himself, sitting on his bed with his specially made glasses on his face, “well that's not too bad, it's not as nice as this place, but it'll do for now,” he took the glasses off, having seen all he needed for now. He wouldn't go after her tonight, she was still too upset, too angry with him; he was going to wait until tomorrow, or maybe the next day so she didn't think he was just lying to her to bring her back.

'She'll forgive you,' the sweet voice said, “maybe not at first, but she will, she'll see,”

“Only if I'm honest next time,” he clarified wearily, “only if I tell her the truth...”

'And you will be,' the sweet voice agreed, 'you will be,”


	18. Chapter 18

“Knock knock,” Cisco called as he entered the cortex, the silence of it making him slightly uncomfortable as he was used to it being a hub of Team Flash activity. “Anyone home?” he looked around the empty room and frowned, expecting to see Barry, or at least some sign of someone having been there recently, but there was nothing, only a single computer out of three was even on, and it had been dormant long enough for the screen saver to come on. 

“Well I guess that answers that question,” he muttered, wiggling the mouse to see what the computer was actually on for. On the screen was the interactive map of Central City Cisco had programmed when Team Flash first started, it showed a little blinking beacon in the down town area with the address of an antique store beside it, and to the right of the screen a drop down section listed the police code for the crime in progress, and the number of units dispatched to the scene. “Armed robbery huh? Shouldn't be too hard,” he watched as another beacon lit up, this one moving and signaling Barry's location. The second beacon was rapidly approaching the first, and just for kicks Cisco decided to open the comm line to listen in on Barry in action.

“Holy shit guys, it's The Flash!” he heard one of the perps shout as Barry arrived on the scene, which made Cisco chuckle.

“Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air!” Barry ordered them, “you're all under arrest for attempted robbery with a deadly weapon,”

“Ooh, you tell em' Bar!” Cisco said quietly as he listened.

“Like hell, I'm not going back to prison!” Another perp yelled, then the sound of gunshots rang out over the computer speakers and Cisco was on the edge of his seat, his eyes wide as he listened, knowing he had not managed to make The Flash Suit bullet proof yet. There was a soft whooshing sound and then several grunts and thuds that sounded like a scuffle, before finally Cisco heard the sounds of police officers running in and announcing themselves.

“It's all taken care of officers,” Barry said, “get these men to the station so they can face charges,”

“Damn,” he heard one of the officers say, “I've seen your work before, but I gotta tell ya, it never gets old!” he laughed.

“You're welcome officers,” Barry replied stoically, “I'll see you around,” then the soft wooshing sound was heard again and the little beacon on the screen began moving away from the crime location.

“Alright Barry, still got it going on,” Cisco said, grinning as he moved away from the monitor. But his grin was short lived as he turned around and was suddenly met with a Flash of yellow as Barry skid to a halt inches from him. “JESUS CHRIST!” he cried, jumping backwards, “you could've knocked me across the room man!” 

“Cisco?” Barry asked, a confused frown on his face as he removed his cowl, “what are you....were you listening in on that?”

Cisco shifted his eyes nervously, and shrugged, “I....maybe....sorta...was, yeah...” he gave Barry an awkward smile which Barry did not return.

“Cisco I thought you....we talked about this,” Barry sighed, “I mean that was just a robbery but still-”

“Um, that wasn't just a robbery, that was an armed robbery, and from what I could hear, it sounded like there were at least two, maybe three perps there, so yeah....not just a robbery bro,” Cisco interrupted him, and Barry couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips at his praise.

“Ok fine, it wasn't just a robber, but you still shouldn't be here doing this stuff,” Barry pressed a button on the keyboard and put the monitor to sleep, “I thought you understood that when I told everyone the other day,” 

Cisco narrowed his eyes at him, crossing his arms over his chest, “The other day?” 

“Yeah,” Barry nodded.

Cisco nodded back, “The other day meaning yknow, a few weeks ago, is that the other day you are referring to?” he pursed his lips as Barry stared back at him in confusion.

“Yeah...?” Barry replied, not following Cisco's train of thought.

“The other day, which was actually two months ago, which was also the last time you and I spoke to each other, where you said and I quote, 'I'll see you later'? Is that the other day you meant?”

Barry finally understood, wincing as he realized why Cisco was repeating himself, “Dude....I'm sorry I just....” he scrubbed his hands through his hair, “I've been so caught up here, being The Flash....god, I'm so sorry Cisco, I never meant to-”

“Never meant to stone wall your best friend? Yeah I figured,” Cisco cut him off, slightly annoyed, “but you did, and it sucked, so don't let it happen again,” he moved around Barry, heading towards his workshop.

“Wait, Cisco,” Barry followed him, “is that why you're here? To yell at me?”

Cisco barked out a laugh, “Actually no, but I saw an opportunity, and I took it so there ya go,” he continued walking, the feeling of annoyance simmering in him, neither growing or dissipating as he pressed on.

“Hey Cisco, come on,” Barry jogged ahead of him and stopped, holding his arms out to catch his friend, “you're just gonna yell at me and walk away? You don't wanna talk about it?”

“Talk about what Barry?” Cisco asked in a snippy tone, “I don't know what's going on so I don't know what there is to talk about,” he tried to push past Barry again, but Barry blocked his path, “Look man, I have some stuff to do alright? Move.”

Barry shook his head, “Cisco I know you're mad at me, and I get that, you're totally right to be mad at me, but we gotta talk about this ok, I've been a dick and you obviously have more to say so go on, say what you need to-”

“You're an asshole,” the words left Cisco's mouth before he even realized it, but once they were said he couldn't stop, “after everything that has happened, after everything we went through, together, as a fracking team, you just decide to kick us all out telling us it's for our own good?” the annoyance began to boil into anger as he let loose on Barry, his voice steadily rising to a yell as he went on, “I mean I get it man, you feel responsible for a lot of what happened, and there's nothing any of us can really do to change that, but did you ever stop to think that you weren't the only one who felt guilty? That you weren't the only one who felt lost, and alone, and hurt? I mean for frack's sake Barry, we all lost people important to us, Ronnie, Eddie, Amy. Do you know who was there for Caitlin when she needed a shoulder to cry on? Do you know who was at your house last night, having dinner with your family, because they think you need to be forced to interact with someone? Do you know who lost the girl he was in love with without getting the chance to tell her?!” He was fuming now, his chest rising and falling rapidly with every breath, “Me Barry, I was the one there for Caitlin, I was the one Joe and Iris asked to come talk to you, I was the one who lost-” he clenched his jaw against the breaking in his voice, continuing in a desperate whisper, “I was the one who lost Amy without telling her how I felt, and I had to do all of that without my best friend Barry Allen behind me, so don't try to feed me any of that 'busy being The Flash' mess you've been telling yourself, because we both know you're lying,”

Barry stared at him in shock for a moment, Cisco practically shaking with anger before him. “I'm sorry Cisco...” he said quietly, his own voice choking up as he looked Cisco in the eyes, “I'm so so sorry, you are absolutely right, I haven't been there for you,” he swallowed thickly, blinking away the threatening tears, “but that's only because I didn't want to add my burden to yours,”

Cisco blinked at him, confused and caught off guard, “What do you mean?” he asked as Barry wiped his hands over his face.

“I mean I know you have been there for everyone else,” Barry replied, his voice weary, “it's what you do Cisco, you're the one everyone can turn to when things get bad, and things got really bad,” he shook his head, the tears winning over and spilling down his cheeks, “and you were there as always for everyone else, and I just...I saw you take all of that on and I didn't want to add to it, y'know? I didn't want you to feel like you had to help me like you did everyone else, because I know that deep down, all that caring hurts you, and you're my best friend, so why would I want to add to that?”

Cisco felt like he'd just been punched in the chest, a truck load of guilt spilling over him in a massive heap, “So you've been preoccupying yourself with work to keep yourself distracted,” he said, finally realizing that Barry hadn't been lying after all, he really had been busy being The Flash, but not for the reasons he thought.

Barry nodded, “I thought that if I just kept acting like a hero, you guys wouldn't worry so much about me,” he chuckled bitterly, wiping his eyes, “I guess I was pretty wrong huh?”

Cisco didn't know what to say at this point, his entire brain now a messy mash up of guilt and sadness and love for his best friend, so he did the only thing he could do, opening his arms wide and wrapping them around Barry in a tight embrace. “We are such idiots,” he managed to say after a minute, “two grown ass men, and we can't even talk to each other like the bros we are,” Barry laughed at his back, patting his shoulder as they broke apart.

“Yeah well, I can't argue with you there,” Barry agreed, “but we got here eventually,”

Cisco nodded, “Thank goodness for the meta-human task force,” he said with a chuckle.

“The what?” Barry asked.

“Oh uh....it's a new part of the CCPD,” Cisco explained, “Joe's in charge of it, he asked me to be his 'scientific adviser' for it, which is why I came here to begin with,” 

“New part of the CCPD...so that means you'll be working at the station?” 

Cisco shrugged, “There, here, wherever I can to be able to help,” 

Barry smiled at him happily, “That means we'll be working together,”

“Yeah, sort of,” Cisco agreed, “that is if I can use your lab for some stuff,”

“Absolutely,” Barry said, “my lab is your lab!”

Cisco smiled to, “Sweet!” he said excitedly, “I'll tell Joe-”

“No,” Barry interrupted him, making him frown, “I'll tell him,”

Cisco nodded, “Oh ok, I guess that's one way to let him know we've talked,” 

Just then the crime alert began beeping over the speakers and Barry looked past Cisco back to the cortex, “That's my cue,” he said, putting his mask back on, “let me go take care of this, I'll see you later, ok?”

Cisco couldn't help it when he asked, “Are you sure this time?”

Barry smiled at him, “Positive,” he confirmed, and with a flash he was off, leaving Cisco feeling much better than when he had arrived. 

'That was pretty intense,' he heard Amy's voice say in his head.

'Yeah it was,' he thought back, 'but it was necessary, now at least I have my best friend back,' then he realized what he said and corrected 'well...one of my best friends,'

'That's what I thought you meant,' he could imagine Amy saying as she smirked at him triumphantly. The image made him smile and for once he didn't feel so bad thinking about her, it was almost like she was alive in his mind, and that wasn't something he felt he could be sad about anymore, because at least he still had a part of her with him, even if it was only a small one.


	19. Chapter 19

Francisco Ramon was not the type of man to let his pain show on the outside. He kept it in, kept it hidden from view so that nobody would know about it, because pain was a weakness and he would never let anyone see him as being weak. That being said, it was incredibly difficult to hide pain when it radiated down your spine like molten aluminum with every movement, which is exactly what he was feeling right now.

One Hour Earlier...

“You're late,” Francisco said, a hint of annoyance in his voice as the pair approached him where he stood, leaning against the brick wall of a crummy apartment complex.

“Whoops,” one of them replied in an icy voice, a woman with pale white skin and hair, blue lips fixed in a sneer, “what are you gonna do? Tell on us?”

“Perhaps,” Francisco replied, pushing away from the wall, “or maybe I'll just see how long it takes to vibrate your frozen heart into a pile of snow, which do you think be more fun Frost?”

“Easy there Reverb,” Deathstorm said warningly, “that's my girl you're talking to,”

“Then maybe you and her ought to invest in some watches, hmn?” Francisco snapped back, “anyway enough talk, we have a job to do,”

The one called Frost clicked her tongue, “Somebody is cranky tonight aren't they?” she asked in a simpering voice.

At this Deathstorm joined in, “What's wrong man, your feisty lady friend give you the cut off?”

Francisco glared at the pair of them but said nothing, this only egging Frost on, “Lady friend huh? And how much did she cost?”

Francisco cocked his head as he looked at her, “More than your frigid cunt would ever be worth, that's for sure,” he replied, Frost gasping at him indignantly “now if you two could focus on the task at hand, I'm sure Zoom would appreciate it,”

“Why you-” Frost growled, steam billowing from her hands as she produced two sharply tipped icicles in them, but Deathstorm stood between her and Francisco before she could strike.

“He's right babe, we have work to do,” he told her authoritatively, to which she grumbled but retracted the icicles none the less.

“Now, you're both aware of our mission tonight, correct?” Francisco asked.

“Get in here and collect the money that idiot Barson thought he could steal from Zoom, yeah we know what we're doing,” Deathstorm replied, “so lets get to it,”

“Agreed,” Francisco lead the way into the building, up two flights of stairs and down the poorly lit hallway to the door to the man's apartment, “show time,” he said, and with a flick of his wrist a blast of vibration shot from his hand, knocking the door right off it's hinges and into the apartment sitting room. “Nathaniel Barson, we'd like to have a word,” he smiled viciously at the man in question, his scruffy form cowering on the other side of his coffee table.

“Who the hell are you?!” he shouted, “And what the hell are you doing in my apartment?!”

“Oh don't play dumb darling,” Frost said, “you know exactly why we're here, you took something that doesn't belong to you, and we're here to get it back,” she produced another set of icicle spikes, “now hand over the money before this gets messy,”

“Fuck you!” Barson spat, “I don't know what you're talking about, I ain't got no money, if I did why would I be living in this shit hole?”

“Laying low to avoid suspicion isn't what I would call living,” Francisco replied, brushing a speck of imaginary dust from his brown leather jacket, “unfortunately for you, this 'shit hole' as you called it wasn't low enough, one of your twitchy little friends sold you out, now hand over the cash before I let my companions here see which hurts worse, fourth degree burns of frost bite,” 

Barson looked properly spooked now, his eyes shifting rapidly between Frost and Deathstorm, “Alright, I'll tell you where it is...” he said, his voice shaking slightly, “I hid it...in a place no one would think to look,” 

Francisco rolled his eyes, “Spare us the intrigue and just tell us where it is,”

Barson swallowed thickly as he looked at him, his eyes seeming slightly unfocused in Francisco's opinion, then he realized why. Barson wasn't looking at him, he was looking just behind him. Before Francisco could turn to see what was coming, he felt the solid round weight of a cast iron pan crashing against his back painfully, knocking him to his knees. He let out a long low groan as the pain shot through him, anger and adrenaline fueling him as he whipped around and blasted his attacker with a vibration, sending them hurtling backward into a wall.

“Mary!” Nathaniel cried, jumping up to defend who Francisco could now see was a teenage girl, but he didn't get far. By his third step Frost had shot two icicles, one in his leg just above the knee, and one in his left shoulder, bringing him down like a sack of bricks. “You maggots better leave my daughter alone or I'll-!”

“Or you'll what?” Deathstorm asked, his hand aflame and held inches from Barson's face. Barson spluttered and stared at the flames before him, his eyes wide as he cowered back from them. 

“Daughter huh?” Frost asked, sauntering over to the young girl's unconscious form, “and such a sweet young thing she is too,” she grabbed the girl's night shirt collar and hauled her up, “wouldn't it be such a shame if she missed out on her teen years because her daddy was a coward,” she produced an icicle in her free hand, holding it under the girl's chin.

Francisco was still on his knees, pain throbbing in his back as he struggled not to move, “Tell us where the money is or your daughter doesn't wake up,” he growled, the very act of it aggravating his injury.

“Alright I'll tell you,” Barson wailed, his eyes fixed on his daughter, “it's in a warehouse seven blocks from here, locked in a box labeled scrap metal,” he squeezed his eyes shut as tears began to fall, “it's all there I swear it is, just please, let my Mary go...”

“What do you say Reverb, is he lying?” Deathstorm asked.

Francisco grit his teeth, struggling to concentrate on his powers, but he managed to see a flash of Barson entering the warehouse, and another of his stuffing a duffel bag full of cash into the box he described, “He's telling the truth,” He replied, “the cash is where he says it is,”

“Good,” Deathstorm said with a smirk, extinguishing the flames on his hand, “glad you decided to cooperate Barson,” 

Barson nodded, “Please, let Mary go...” 

“Sure thing sugar,” Frost said, dropping the girl's body to the floor, “but we still need to make sure you learned your lesson,” she smiled at him and then in the blink of an eye she shot an icicle straight through his forehead, killing him instantly. “Well that was easy,” Frost remarked, “almost no fun to,” she glanced down at Francisco still on the floor, “although I did get a special thrill out of watching that girl beat you with that pan,” she cackled as he glared up at her.

“Fuck off Frost,” Francisco hissed, shooting a mild vibration at her causing her to stumble backwards.

“Hey-” Deathstorm surged forward, but Francisco put up a hand to stop him.

“Either get control of that frozen shrew of yours or next time I'll be throwing her into a wall, understood?” Francisco asked as he stood, clenching his fist in pain as he did so.

Deathstorm scowled at him but nodded, “Come on Babe, lets go get that bag of cash,” he said as he headed for the doorway.

Frost followed him, but when she got to the doorway she turned back, a wicked grin on her face, “You might want to put some ice on that when you get home Reverb,” she cackled once more before slipping away after her boyfriend.

Francisco wished he could wring her pale neck but it would be more trouble than it was worth, so instead he hobbled to the bathroom to search Barson's medicine cabinet for any pain medicine he could find. Lucky for him, Barson had been living with a bad knee for a while now, and had a substantial stash of vicoden hidden away in there. Francisco took two of the four bottles and left, dry swallowing three pills before reaching the bottom of the steps. 

Present time...

The vicoden was just barely beginning to kick in as he entered The Palisades' entry way, and as he struggled to the elevator, the only thought on his mind was getting up to his suite and drinking whatever liquor he could find to ease the rest of the pain away, but his luck that night it seemed, was non existent. 

“Mr. Ramon?” Puckett's timid voice called to him from the front desk.

Francisco found himself groaning softly at the sound, “Not now Puckett,” he barked, hobbling onward.

“But Mr. Ramon, there's something I need to tell you about your-”

“I said not now!” Francisco snapped angrily, glaring back at him, “are you suddenly deaf, or are you trying to get me to beat the snot out of you?” Puckett pressed his lips together and shook his head in a silent response. “Good,” Francisco said, turning his focus back on the elevators ahead, “now I expect not to be disturbed once I am upstairs unless specifically told otherwise, understood?” Puckett shook his head again, this time for yes, “marvelous.” Even pressing the button for his floor hurt him. 

When he reached his suite, he found it unlocked which was only slightly odd considering he couldn't remember if he'd locked it or not, but at this point he didn't care, so he opened the door and stepped inside without a second thought. He made it halfway to the kitchen before he noticed the shadow sitting on his couch, the living room lights off and the shape of the figure giving no hints as to who it was. “You have ten seconds to get out before I kill you,” he said, not even bothering to ask who it was, as he was in too much pain to care. 

But then the figure chuckled softly, “I doubt it,” they said, a red orb of energy forming in her hand and illuminating Amy's face.

Francisco stood frozen on the spot, staring at her in disbelief as she stood up and turned on a lamp nearby. Was it the pain pills? Was he hallucinating her presence here out of some absurd desire for comfort in this time of pain? And if she was real why had she decided to come back? 

Amy approached him slowly, stopping a foot away and looking him up and down with cautiously confident eyes, “We need to talk,” she said, sinking her hands into the pockets of a pair of black jeans that Francisco didn't recognize.

She was real he decided, and even if she wasn't he wasn't going to tell himself as much, he wanted her to be there to much to break the fantasy if she weren't real. He looked her up and down, taking in her new unfamiliar clothes that were far more casual but somehow just as attractive as the ones he'd bought for her. A smirk curled on his lips, “If you've come to try to kill me again,” he said, his voice lacking some of it's usual arrogance from the pain, “I feel I should tell you I'm already halfway there at this point, so it might not be as fun as you anticipated,” 

That got him a small smile from Amy, “I'm not her to kill you,” she said stepping a little closer, “I just want to talk,”

“Talk about what then?” He asked, “what could be so important that you'd come back to me for a chat, hmn?”

Another step closer, Amy was inches away now, “You know what Francisco,” the sound of his name on her lips giving him a small twinge of excitement, “I know what you did for me, at the hotel,” 

At that Francisco's smirk grew, “Oh? And how do you know it was me and not your new college girl friend with the rich father?”

Amy smirked right back at him closing the gap between them as she leaned towards him, whispering in his ear, “Because I told her my name was Amaryllis, not Amy" 

Francisco shivered slightly at the closeness, he could feel the warmth of her skin on his face from here, “Well so much for being an anonymous benefactor I suppose,” he turned his face towards hers, her eyes nearly hypnotizing him as he gazed into their depths, “but I'm guessing you didn't drop by to say thank you,”

Amy shook her head, stepping back a step, “You know I didn't,”

“Very well then,” Francisco replied, moving to lean against the wall to ease some pressure from his back, “lets talk.”

4 hours previous…  
“What is this?” Amy asked as she stared at the shopping bag in David’s outstretched hand. She had slept late into the day, and had immediately gone to the front desk to pay for her room, only to be greeted by David from the night before thrusting a large shopping bag at her.  
“Clothes,” he replied dropping the bag on the counter between them, “Jessie stopped by this morning before heading to class, she said to give them to you and tell you that she cleaned out her closet and thought these might fit you,”  
Amy stared at the bag a little longer before smiling “That girl is too sweet,” she said, taking the bag and peering inside of it. There were quite a few things in with a little note card set on the top that read ’thought you might like a change of clothes, hope you’re doing ok! - J ’  
“Yeah, she’s a nice kid,” David agreed, “loves helping people to, she once helped me write a ten page paper for english the night before it was due,”  
Amy nodded, “Oh really, how’d you do?”  
“B plus,” he said proudly, “it would’ve been higher but we didn’t bother to proofread it much so I got marked down for a few grammatical errors,”  
“Well a B plus is still pretty good,” Amy assured him.  
“Yup,” he agreed, “also I have some more good news for you,” he pointed at the computer screen beside him, “looks like your room has been paid up for the next three months,” he smiled “looks like Jessie really likes you,”  
Amy’s eyes went wide, “What?” she gasped in shock, nearly dropping the bag of clothes in her hand.  
David pointed to the computer screen again, “It says right here, the room you stayed in last night has been booked for three months under your name,” he frowned as he read the information, “at least I think that’s you, it says Amy Warren, is Amy like a nickname or something?”  
‘Oh no….’ Amy thought as she heard him read out the name, 'that’s not Jessie that’s….but why?’  
“You ok?” David asked, interrupting her thoughts, “you look a little paler than before, you’re not gonna get sick or something are you?”

“Wha- oh no, I just….” she put a hand on her chest, feeling the beat of her heart thudding against her breast bone like a rabbit on the run, “…I think I need to go lay down or something…” she turned to head back to her room, stopping to turn back for a moment, “…if you see Jessie tell her I said thank you, and thank you to David, for being so nice I mean,”

“Hey no problem, if Jessie trusts you then I trust you,” David replied, “just go rest or something ok, you look like you need it,”

Amy nodded and walked quickly back to her room, dropping the clothes and sinking onto the bed once she got inside. It didn’t make sense, she had told him she hated him, screamed at him, and yet here she was in a hotel room that was hers for the next three months if she wanted, all because of him.

'What are you up to Francisco?’ she thought, 'what are you playing at?’  
'He’s worried about you,’ the sweet voice from before whispered, 'he doesn’t want you living on the street, remember he asked where you were going to go…’  
'Which he didn’t need to obviously,’ Amy hissed back, 'he’s been spying on me this whole time most likely, what if he paid for my room so I would stay put and be easy to find?’  
'If he wanted you to be easy to find he wouldn’t have let you leave,’ the voice pointed out, 'and so what if he’s been spying on you, he could have just let you walk out and take your chances against this world, but no, he used his powers to keep track of you instead, obviously he cares about you’  
'Yeah, well if he cares so much, where is he?’ Amy thought bitterly, 'he hasn’t come after me, he hasn’t come to apologize for what he did,’  
’Would you have followed you after that fight?’  
Amy bit her lip, realizing that no, she would have given herself some distance to calm down first, 'It doesn’t matter, what he did was horrible and even if he did apologize I wouldn’t accept it, he would just be lying to get me to come back,’

'You know that’s not true,’ it was Cisco’s voice now, soft and kind in her ear as he corrected her, 'you saw how he reacted when you accused him of using you to replace the other Amaryllis, you know very well that was a fear response, he was afraid you would leave, afraid of losing you,’

'He can’t lose someone he never had,’ Amy thought, but even she didn’t believe it. She had felt that pull towards him even after she’d left, felt the dull ache in her chest at the idea of not seeing him again; and she knew that even if it was a small part of her heart, it unquestionably belonged to him.

'You need to talk to him Amy,’ Cisco’s voice urged her, 'you’ve got to go to him and figure this thing out,’  
'And what if I don’t?’ she asked, 'I already lost you Cisco, I don’t want to risk losing another version of you, I don’t want to feel that pain again,”

'He’s not another version of me Amy,’ Cisco said, 'He’s him, he is Francisco Ramon, a completely different and unique person that you have fallen for, just like you are Amy Warren, and not the woman he knew with your face,’

'And if he still wants her?’

She could almost see Cisco’s face chuckling as his voice answered 'You mean like you still want me?’ and she knew he was right. Francisco would always love the Amaryllis Warren he had known because he had loved her before; love was like matter, it couldn’t simply be destroyed by things like death or being trapped in a different universe, it was always there, just not always the same shape as before.

'What do I even say to him?’ she asked, her mind already made up to go to him.

'You’ll think of something Amy,’ Cisco’s voice replied, 'just be honest…’

 

Present time…  
“How did you get into my apartment by the way?” Francisco asked as he smirked at her, “did you climb in through the window or something?”

Amy shook her head frowning at him, “No Puckett gave me the key,” she looked him up and down for a moment, “what’s the matter with you, why are you moving like that?”

Francisco tried to shrug but it sent a shock of pain to his back, making him hiss quietly, “I did mention that I was half dead a minute ago, though it’s likely an exaggeration I’m still not in the best of conditions at present,”

“You’re avoiding the question,” Amy said flatly, taking a guess at where he might be injured and unzipping his jacket.

Francisco chuckled as she pushed his jacket off, “You and I must have very different ideas of what talking means,” 

“Shut up,” Amy replied lifting his shirt.

“Oh I’m not complaining, believe me, I’m just- fucking hell!” his hands shot out to grab her wrists in a painful grip, his eyes screwing shut at the brush of her fingers against his back, “ok now I am complaining, Christ Amy….”

“What happened?!” Amy demanded, pulling out of his grasp and moving behind him, “Oh my god Francisco!” she shrieked as she lifted his shirt and found a large angry red spot on his back, already beginning to purple with a bruise.

“I’ll be fine,” Francisco tried to say “I just got caught off guard is all,” but the sound of Amy’s foot steps stomping into the kitchen distracted him. “Amy what are you doing?” he asked, struggling to push off from the wall.

“Take off your shirt and stop talking,” she ordered him, marching back to his side with a towel full of ice cubes.

“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of-” Francisco tried, but Amy wasn’t messing around.

“Shirt. Off. Now,” She barked, and Francisco grumbled but obliged, hissing as he tried to lift the shirt over his head. “Ok stop, this is fine,” she said, helping him to de-tangle his arms from the sleeves so that the shirt rested at his neck like a scarf, “this is going to be cold,” she warned before gently pressing the ice to his back.

Francisco whined at the pain and chill, reaching behind him to grab at her wrist again, “I took pain medicine, this isn’t necessary,” he told her quietly, leaning against the wall more heavily.

“This isn’t just for pain, this is to keep any swelling down as well,” She put her free hand over his on her wrist, gently prying his fingers off of her, “you need to hold this,” she said quietly, placing his hand over the compress.

“Could I not simply position it on the wall and lean against it?” he asked as she moved in front of him again.

“Not unless you want it to hurt even more than it already does,” she answered, “watch you eyes,” she said, taking hold of the fabric around his neck and gently lifting it over his head, and out of his hair.

Francisco regarded her with a look of wonder, the vicoden definitely kicking in now as his eye lids began to feel heavy and he seemed unable to focus anywhere but on Amy’s lips. “Thank you,” he whispered, “for helping me after…everything I’ve done,”

Amy gazed back at him, noticing how his eyes lingered on her mouth, “You’re welcome,” she answered, licking her lips unconsciously, “and you’re not the only one who should be apologizing…” she turned away then, her heartbeat picking up from nerves and something else, a warmth spreading across her cheeks as the thought of his lips on hers flashed across her mind.

Francisco shook his head, “Oh hush, your biggest crime against me was a raised voice, you should be fuming at me for what I did to you,” he managed to push off the wall, shuffling towards her as she moved away.

“I am,” she said quietly, “or I was…it’s-” she turned back to face him, finding him much closer than anticipated, “complicated,” she finished in a whisper, blinking back at him as his gaze met hers.

Francisco smiled at her look of surprise, the idea of surprising her further with a kiss crossing his mind, but immediately being pushed away for being too forward under the circumstances, “Explain it to me then,” he suggested taking her hand, “explain why it is you’re here showing me kindness when I have done nothing to deserve it from you,”

Amy swallowed, “You saved my life,” she countered, “that deserves something,”

Francisco shook his head, “You didn’t need saving though did you?” he replied, turning her hand palm up between them, “you never have, and I don’t foresee you ever needing it in the future,” he put his hand atop hers, the gesture now familiar to them both.

Amy smiled, “Maybe not, but it doesn’t make the effort any less deserving,” she shifted her hand under his, sliding it up his arm to touch his cheek gently, “I came back because I think I finally understand what this is between us, I think I finally know what to call it,”

Francisco leaned into her touch, his eyes closing as he took in the sensation of her soft warm hand on his face, “Don’t say it unless you’re sure,” he breathed out, “I don’t want you to say it unless you’re absolutely sure of it, because neither one of us deserves to find out the hard way if it’s not true,”

Amy watched him lean into her touch and decided he was right, she wouldn’t say it, she wouldn’t label what they had as one thing or another because in the end it was never so simple. 

“Amy?” Francisco said her name, eyes still closed on her as he waited for her response. The one he got sent him reeling, his knees going slightly weak as the gentle pressure of her lips on his consumed him like fire. He made a small pained noise, dropping the ice held at his back and taking her face in his hands, not caring about any pain in his back, or the mess of melting ice on the carpet; all that mattered now was her body against him, and her silent reply that said ’I love you’ without saying anything at all.


	20. Chapter 20

“Who is Nathaniel Barson, and why do you have his vicoden?” Amy asked as she entered Francisco’s bedroom, his leather jacket in one hand and bottle of pills in the other.

Francisco turned his head against his pillow, smiling in his drug induced haze at Amy as she carefully sat beside him, “He was a criminal with bad knees,” he explained, shifting slowly from his position on his stomach in an attempt to get closer to her, “and I needed it to get back here without stopping at a hospital,” he reached out a hand to loop a finger in one of the belt loops of her jeans, “it’s not like he needs them anymore anyway…”

Amy set the bottle on the bedside table and peered down at him, “I assume since you are referring to him in the past tense, he’s dead?” she asked, removing his hooked finger and pulling his hand into her lap, tracing his palm with gentle strokes.

Francisco hummed in confirmation, “He is, daughter isn’t, the little shit…” he made an angry face as he thought about her, “she’s the one that bashed me with a frying pan,”

Amy stopped tracing his palm then, “you killed him in front of his daughter?” she asked, her voice soft and shocked.

Francisco shook his head “I didn’t, Frost did,” he said “and the daughter was unconscious at the time so technically-”

“So she’s going to wake up and find her father dead, is that what you’re telling me?” Amy moved away from him slightly, earning a distraught little whimper from him as he clung to her.

“Had to be done, he stole what didn’t belong to him,”

“Theft isn’t a crime punishable by death Francisco,” Amy said harshly, “he should be in jail-”

“Zoom wanted him dead,” Francisco cut her off, pushing up off the bed slightly to look at her, “I’ve already told you, Zoom always gets what he wants, he’s not exactly a ‘criminal justice system’ sort of guy, if you steal from him you end up dead, end of story,”

Amy looked down at him, his eyes gazing up at her with a seriousness in them that made her pause. She looked away for a moment, beginning to trace his hand in her lap once more as she asked, “Is that what I have to look forward to then? Killing people who piss Zoom off?”

Francisco fixed her with a sympathetic look, pulling his hand from her grasp as he forced himself into an upright position before turning her face back to him with gentle fingers, “I don’t expect you to enjoy it, and you can leave the actual killing to me or one of the others if you want, but Amy you have to understand that Zoom does not allow for disobedience, and while it is my fault that you are part of his crew now, I need to know that you understand I only did it to keep you safe,”

Amy met his eyes and nodded, managing a small smile as she looked at him and saw the care for her written across his face, “I know Francisco,” she said, covering his hand with her own, “I’m just trying to prepare myself for what’s going to happen, I’m not used to being the bad guy…”

Francisco felt a twinge of guilt at her use of the term ‘bad guy’, knowing full well that he was not exempt from that label, but he didn’t want to think about any of that just now, and he didn’t think Amy ought to either. He moved forward, pressing his lips to hers, soft a first, but as he felt her hands sink into his hair, and felt her mouth open against his he deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth and delighting in the taste of her. “Don’t think about it,” he managed breathlessly, “just be here, with me, nowhere else,” his body moved on instinct now, pain ignored as he moved over her, pushing her back against the headboard as he pressed his body to hers.

“You should be resting,” Amy scolded lightly as he moved from her mouth, “you’re going to make your back worse if you don’t- Mmm!” she pressed her lips together to stifle the shocked little cry, the sensation of teeth on the skin of her neck making her dizzy.

“I think a rush of endorphins might help ease some of the pain, don’t you?” Francisco whispered, his hands moving to rest on her hips where they slowly began to move the hem of her shirt upwards.

“Only temporarily,” Amy argued, her own hands on his chest but not pushing him away, “you’d likely hurt yourself even more trying to get there than it would be worth,” 

Francisco gave her a particularly hard nip on her pulse point before growling, “I don’t know, I feel like we both might get there sooner than you think…”

At this Amy laughed out loud, making him pull back, “Sorry,” she said, a deep red blush coming to he cheeks, “but you basically just said you were a quick draw in bed and I just….I couldn’t help it,” 

Francisco squinted down at her smiling face, “Well now, that sounded like a challenge to me,” he said, inching his face closer to hers as he spoke, “I wonder how many times I can blow your mind before I’m spent, shall we find out?” he surged forward to claim her lips, but collided with her cheek instead.

“You really should be resting,” she said, pushing him away now.

Francisco let out a frustrated groan as he allowed her to move him, sinking back onto his heels with a wince as the pain he’d partially forgotten made itself known, “This is entirely unfair, just the other day you were teasing me, and now when I’m actually allowed to enjoy it you tell me ‘you need to rest’,” he eased back down beside her, though on his side now as he could not currently lay on his stomach without a different pain affecting him, “when do I get to explore that delightful body of yours? Hmn?”

Amy shook her head, “Later” was all she said as she stood up, “for now rest,” she started for the door when Francisco called after her.

“And just where do you think you’re going?” he asked in his usual arrogant tone, “not off to relieve yourself after my advances are you? Because if so you’re staying right here where I can watch,” 

Amy spluttered at him, her face going an even darker shade of red than before if that were even possible, “You sir have an entirely unhealthy obsession with sex,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave him a scandalized look, “and for your information I was going to my room so that I could change and come back, but now I think I might need to barricade you in until you’re healed enough to not do something stupid,”

Francisco pouted at her, “First of all, I’m a man in his twenties with a beautiful woman in his bedroom, so 'unhealthy obsession’ is not how I would describe my current state of sexual frustration,” he told her frankly, “and secondly, even if you did barricade me in, I could use my powers to watch you, whether you were in fact going to change or not, so really you might as well save yourself the trip and do whatever you were planning to do right here, after all you know you can always borrow my clothes,”

Amy tried to scowl at him, but the blush in her cheeks and the thought of his or her own hands on herself was too distracting for it to be very convincing. “I am going to my room to change, end of discussion,” she said, before turning on her heel and walking out.

Francisco sighed as he watched her leave, grinning to himself at the way he had made her blush so deeply. He hadn’t been lying when he told her he was frustrated, but it wasn’t merely because he was a young man who couldn’t control his urges, it was something stronger that made him want to explore her so thoroughly. He had never really thought about sex with his Amaryllis, it had always been enough for him to imagine her reciprocating his feelings, but with her he had been different himself, things had been simpler then and he had been shy, hard though it may be to believe. But with Amy…It had been there when she first kissed him, a fire that consumed his every nerve, the very thought of her stirring things within him. She was nothing like his Amaryllis, she was so much stronger and fiercer, and when he touched her it was not as a man dominating a woman, it was as two equal forces meeting and joining together. 

He’d first felt it the day Amy had rediscovered her powers, the intoxicating rush as her powers surged and nearly killed him. She was his equal, and he loved her all the more for it, because out of all the women he had been with in his life, none had been so sure in themselves as Amy was, or at least as Amy seemed to be. He knew deep down within her, she was still very much afraid of what was to come, but on the outside she was titanium, and it made the moments of weakness she shared all the more precious to him.

“If you were watching,” Amy said as she returned, wearing a pair of shorts and the t-shirt she had left the other night in, “I hope you enjoyed the show, if not, then joke’s on you I told you I was just changing,”

Francisco raised an eyebrow at her as he broke from his thoughts, “Show?” he asked as she crawled into bed next to him, “what do you mean show?”

Amy shook her head, “Not what you think I mean, I’m almost certain,” she told him, “now I will stay here with you only if you promise to rest and let yourself heal, no funny business, got it?”

Francisco made a face but nodded, “Fine, I promise,” he grumbled.

Amy smiled at him, “Good, now scoot so I can get under these covers, your room is absolutely freezing,”

Francisco obliged, letting her lift the covers over them both before nuzzling his face into her neck and wrapping his arm around her, “Comfy?” he asked as she made a small noise of contentment.

“Mm-hm, you?” she asked, hugging his arm closer.

“Relatively,” he replied. They lay there in silence for a long moment, enjoying the company and the contact between them, until Francisco piped up, “You do realize however that when we finally do have sex, I’m going to do everything I can to have you screaming my name, right?” He felt Amy’s body tense in his embrace, and he grinned wickedly.

“If you can last that long,” Amy replied, snickering to herself as he growled against her neck in protest. “Rest well Francisco, we’ll find out soon enough,” she said sweetly, and as she felt his arm tighten around her she thought to herself with a twinge of excitement 'I am going to be in so much trouble when he heals…’

\------------------- ----------- ------------- --------------- ------------ --------------------  
PART TWENTY ONE  
“Say it,” Francisco growled into Amy’s ear before biting down one her earlobe, eliciting a strangled cry from her throat.

“No!” she hissed back, squirming as his hands roamed over her skin under her shirt, the rest of his body pressed to hers from the waist down, a very prominent bulge in his pants rubbing against her. She was struggling to maintain enough brain power to fend him off, not because she didn’t want to have sex with him, but because it had only been a week since he’d come back to the apartment with a giant bruise on his back, and he still had some healing to do before she was sure he wouldn’t aggravate the injury again. 

“Say no again and I’ll rip this damn shirt off of you with my bare hands,” he replied, his hands cupping her breasts and squeezing lightly.

“First of all, you wouldn’t dare,” Amy gasped out, her back arching slightly against her will, “secondly, I will not be bullied into agreeing to this if I think you might hurt yourself in the process, so I’ll say again, n-oh god!” she cried out as he pressed himself more firmly against her, a groan of his own rising from his throat.

“For fuck’s sake Amy I’m begging you,” Francisco panted, “I’ve been watching you parade around in your underwear for the past week, not to mention all the time before that when I had to admire your body from afar,” he pressed his forehead to hers, fisting his hands into the hem of her shirt as he squeezed his eyes shut “let me show you how you make me feel when I look at you, let me do to you what you do to me,”

Amy could barely breath, her heart was beating so hard in her chest. But she couldn’t deny she really did want him, and he very obviously wanted her if his hard on was anything to go by, so she bit her lip and nodded, “Ok,” she agreed, which set Francisco moving almost frantically to remove both their pajama bottoms, but she grabbed his hands to stop him, “but not like this,” she said, which earned her an almost pained look from Francisco as he whined desperately.

“Come on Amy, now you’re just being cruel-” he started, but he was silenced as she kissed him, gently maneuvering him onto his back.

“I am many things Francisco Ramon,” she said, a grin spreading across her face as realization dawned on his, “but cruel is not one of them,” she removed her pants and underwear as Francisco did the same, and positioned herself atop him. “You have to promise that if it starts to hurt you’ll stop and tell me,” she said firmly, batting his hands away as he tried to reach for her hips.

“Yes, yes!” he replied dismissively, “I promise,”

Amy smiled down at him, and in that moment Francisco thought it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, “Good,” she said in a soft sultry voice, “now, are you ready?”

Francisco reached forward, finally allowed to grip her hips in a not too harsh hold, “I’ve been ready for ages my sweet exotic star, don’t torture me any longer,”

Amy nodded taking one of his hands from her hips into her own, and without another word she sank down on him and rolled her hips, sending both of them mad with sensation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Fuck,” was the only word Francisco could manage as he came down from his release, a smile on his face that would not budge. 

Amy collapsed beside him, similarly smiling as they both lay side by side, panting and sweaty from their exertion in pleasuring each other. It had felt like an eternity between them, time had stretched out and become meaningless as they became engulfed in each other’s passion. “Did you hurt yourself?” she asked, unable to suppress her concern, despite the fact that he had promised to tell her if he did, and had said nothing but her name over and over as they went.

Francisco rolled over to face her, brushing a hand over her cheek as he laughed, “Did I stop?” he asked, “did I say I was in pain?”

Amy smiled back, “No, but you could have been lying when you promised just to get me to stop talking,” she pointed out covering his hand with her own.

A small frown creased his face, “I thought we agreed not to lie to each other anymore,” he pointed out, “did you think I was lying then?”

Amy shook her head, “No of course not,” she assured him quickly, “I just…you seemed awfully eager…”

Francisco chuckled as she averted her eyes from his, endeared to her by the fact that she would be embarrassed about his eagerness to be with her after they had already had sex, “How could I not be?” he asked, “you’re the most beautiful thing in this world to me, can you blame me for wanting you so badly?”

Amy looked back over to him now, her mouth agape at his words. She felt her heart swell, almost fit to burst as she grinned at him, “I guess not,” she replied quietly.

Francisco pressed a gentle kiss on her nose before pulling back with a serious expression, “I don’t mean to kill the mood so soon afterwards, but I have to point out that we didn’t use any protect-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Amy said cutting him off, “I couldn’t get pregnant even if I wanted to,” she lifted her shirt slightly and guided his hands to two small scars on her abdomen, “the women in my family have a long history of ovarian cancer, and when I was eighteen I developed a mass on one of mine, so I had and Oophorectomy to prevent any chance of it developing into cancer,”

Francisco gave he a look of such utter surprise and sympathy at her words, “You made that decision at eighteen?” he asked, tracing the slightly raised lines of her scars under his fingertips.

Amy nodded, “I didn’t want to have to go through what my mother and grandmother did,” she explained softly, “and yeah it means I can’t have kids, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t have a family if I wanted, there’s always adoption, and I could always-” Francisco cut her off with a tender kiss, his hand resting on her hip as he pulled her to him.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he whispered when they broke apart, “I’m sorry you had to watch your mother and grandmother suffer, and I’m sorry you had to face such a choice so young,” he returned his hand to her face, his thumb stroking her cheek in gently loving strokes, “you are stronger than I could ever have imagined, I don’t know how I managed to deserve you in this life,”

“Its because you’re a good person Francisco,” she said, putting her hand against his face as she spoke, “even if you can’t see it anymore, I know the goodness is there, and it will come back to the surface again in the end, and you’ll wonder how you ever thought you weren’t worthy of love”

Francisco’s hand stilled on her skin, her words pouring over him like sun after a long rain. “Tis a nice sentiment darling,” he said softly, “but only time will tell,”

“Indeed it will,” Amy agreed. They lay there for a moment, gazing at each other in new found appreciation for their presence, then Amy sat up, “I should go shower,” she said sliding to the edge of the bed.

“Perhaps I’ll join you,” Francisco suggested, doing the same, but as he moved he felt a twinge of pain shoot through his back and flinched visibly.

Amy narrowed her eyes at him then, “Francisco Ramon did you hurt yourself?” she asked in a stern voice, “after everything you said about promises and lies, and look at you!”

“Believe me, it didn’t hurt while I was inside you,” he replied with a smirk, “I was entirely too distracted by you to feel anything else,”

Amy put her hands on her hips, “Go take some pain medicine and come straight back here to rest,” she ordered him, “understood?”

“Yes ma'am,” Francisco replied with a laugh, “don’t worry it’s not as bad as it was,”

“You say that now, but just you wait until you wake up with a stiff back and expect me to help you,” Amy teased, “now I’m going to shower, and no you are not going to join me,”

Francisco pouted at her, “You’re not fun at all,” he called after her as she went to the bathroom. He got out of bed with a slight struggle, wincing as his back twinged in protest; he was halfway to the kitchen to grab the vicoden bottle from the counter when he heard the knocking on the apartment door, stopping him in his tracks. No one came to visit him besides Zoom or his cronies; Zoom was not one to use doors, and his cronies usually had Puckett call up from the front desk out of fear of him attacking them for disturbing his privacy. The knock sounded again, soft and almost timid in it’s rhythm of three, and even as Francisco used his powers to see who was on the other side, he could not recognize them enough to identify them. As another set of three knocks sounded Francisco’s curiosity got the better of him, and he went to the door and opened it, his eyes growing wide as he saw who it was he had just greeted in his boxer shorts.

The man smiled sheepishly at him, dressed in a white button down shirt and black slacks that looked shabby but not overly so. He was taller than Francisco by half an inch, and his face looked tired but retained the memory of once handsome features set in light golden brown skin. “Hello Francisco,” he said in a shaky voice, “is uh…is this a bad time?”

Francisco continued to stare at him for several moments before he finally regained the capacity to speak, his mind running to catch up to all the information it had taken to process just who this man before him was. “Dante?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Dante smiled a little wider, “Hello little brother,” he said, slightly more confident now as he spoke, “it’s good to see you.”


	21. Chapter 21

“Maybe this time....I'll be lucky....” Amy idly sang the words as she prepared for her shower, turning on the hot water, adjusting it to the right temperature, taking off her clothes. It was a song from the show 'Cabaret', a rather sad song if one were to think about it, where Sally Bowles sings about how unlucky she has been in love, and how 'maybe this time, for the first time', she's going to finally be lucky with the man she'd found. Amy wasn't sure why the song had started playing in her head as she left Francisco for the bathroom, but if she thought about it, she supposed it might have something to do with how she was finally, oddly, unexpectedly, happy.

She couldn't exactly say that she'd had many relationships, in fact she'd had barely any, with only a grade school crush, and a two week fling in high school under her belt; but she'd also never really felt a desire to be in a relation until...well until she'd met Cisco. There had been something about Cisco that changed her, something in his smile, his personality that made her stop thinking that relationships were a waste of time and start thinking they could be pretty nice to have. Of course she'd never acted on that change of heart, but she almost had, just before the accelerator exploded she had begun planning how exactly to tell her best friend she loved him....but she never got the chance. Amnesia was funny like that, it knocked so many important things out of her brain that by the time she saw Cisco again over nine months after the explosion, she had no idea who he was. 

“All the odds are...in my favor....something's bound to begin...” She smiled to herself as she sang that line, thinking of how incredibly stacked the odds had been for her to get to where she was now. She could have landed anywhere after being tossed through that wormhole, in any universe, in any city: but here she was in this city, in this apartment, with this man, her man, her Francisco. Her smile grew as she thought of that word, 'mine'. He was hers, he belonged to her just as she now belonged to him in the romantic sense of things, and that was something she had never really felt before, and it was the source of the happiness that had her singing in the shower. 

Under the water, her singing was now only a soft hum, but it was apparently enough to drown out the sound of the bathroom door opening, causing her to scream when she heard Francisco suddenly say her name from the other side of the glass shower door.

“Jesus Christ Francisco, what are you doing?!” she hissed, hurrying to wipe the water from her eyes, “I could've slipped and fallen just now you jerk!” her tone was only mildly annoyed as she shut the water off and opened the door. 

“I'm sorry, I thought you heard me come in,” Francisco apologized, his tone monotonous and his face drawn.

Amy frowned in concern as she looked at him, “Francisco whats wrong, are you alright?” she began to step out of the shower to come closer to him, but he put a hand up to stop her.

“I'm fine,” he said unconvincingly, “I just....” he frowned deeply in thought, looking down at his feet as he stood still clad in the boxers he'd put back on to go to the living room. He seemed unsure of himself, which was a behavior Amy had never seen in him before and which scared her a little as he continued to frown in thoughtful silence. Finally he looked back up at her, his eyes still sightly glazed as though his mind were not entirely there as he said “My brother Dante is in the living room, he says he's gotten clean....he says he wants to pay me back for being a terrible brother for me all these years,”

Amy stared at him, unsure of how to respond to such unexpected information. “Dante...” she said his name and shivered slightly at the memory of that same name on her tongue seemingly ages ago on her earth, “do you mean the same Dante who's apartment you brought me to when I first came to this world?”

Francisco nodded, “Yes,” he said quietly, “the same Dante,”

“But he's gotten clean now?”

Again Francisco nodded, “So he says,” he sighed “he certainly looks better than he did, he looks kind of...normal now, almost,”

Amy frowned in thought herself now, wondering why Dante had decided to get clean, why he had decided to show up here, why he wanted to make things up to Francisco, but possibly most of all “Well then why are you in here?” she asked gesturing around them, “If your brother is sitting in the living room telling you he's gotten clean and wants to make things up to you, why on earth are you standing in this bathroom telling me?”

Francisco gave her a confused look, as though the answer should have been somehow obvious, “Well I...Amy I was worried about you,” he took her hand as he went on, the haze in his eyes vanishing as they met hers “Dante is my brother, and he claims to be clean which I may or may not believe, but Amy he knows....he knows who Amaryllis was, he went to her funeral with me, he read her obituary to me when I was in the hospital, Amy....He's going to recognize you, and he's going to ask questions, and I don't want you to walk into that unprepared, if at all”  
“Oh,” Amy said as she realized what was going on. How were they going to proceed with this? How were they going to explain to Dante why she had the same face as a dead girl? How was she supposed to behave around him knowing his doppelganger? The questions kept on coming and she could feel her knees growing weak at the incredible number of them swarming inside her mind. She swallowed thickly and held onto Francisco's hand a little tighter as she asked, “Well what are we going to do?”

Francisco blinked at her, his brown eyes full of a genuine caring that comforted Amy as she gazed at them. “That's up to you,” he said slowly, “we can either tell him that you're someone else entirely who happens to bear a striking resemblance to her, we can tell him the obituary and funeral were all held for the wrong girl, or...” he reached up and touched her cheek, pushing a few damp tendrils of hair off of her face as he said “we can tell him the truth, and hope that he isn't lying and under Zoom's orders to track you down for him,”

At that Amy flinched, a small gasp escaping her lips, “What do you mean Zoom's orders to....there's an order out to track me down?”

Francisco nodded, “Has been for a while,” he confirmed, “not you specifically, but he knows that someone came through the night you arrived, he just doesn't know who yet, or where to find them. And you already know Zoom is ruthless, I wouldn't put it past him to recruit my brother against me, and I wouldn't put it past the drug addict in Dante to agree to anything for a score, so,” he brushed his thumb over her cheek gently, “it's up to you what we tell him, and whatever you say I will do,”

Amy stared back at him, clinging to the feeling of his hand in her hand and on her face, those small comforts grounding her as she made her decision, “We tell him I'm Amaryllis,” she said in a soft voice, “we tell him the papers got it wrong, tell him the funeral was a mistake,” she closed her eyes as she felt her stomach turn slightly, her entire brain screaming at her that this was a mistake as she concluded “and you'll have to start calling me Amaryllis when I come out, we'll have to make him believe it,”

Francisco nodded, his face looking more drawn than ever, “Ok,” he said, “We tell him you're her, that you're Amaryllis,”

Amy nodded to, a shuddering movement as she opened her eyes to look at him, “I'll be out in a minute then I suppose,” 

Francisco gave her cheek one last stroke with his thumb before turning to leave, but before he reached the door he turned back to her “I'm sorry Amy, I know how hard this will be for you, and I apologize for putting you through it,”

Amy looked at him, steeling her nerves as she did, straightening her back she said “My name is not Amy, it's Amaryllis,” she said in a cool even tone, then she turned the water of the shower back on and let it's heat envelope her, the temperature doing nothing to stop her shaking with nerves as she repeated the name over and over in her mind. “Amaryllis, Amaryllis, Amaryllis...”  
Francisco closed the bathroom door behind him, clenching his jaw as the image of her face telling him her name burned in his mind. She had decided this would be the plan, and he would not argue with her, but he could not help the painful clenched feeling in his chest as he thought about what was going to happen. As he thought about how he was going to have to call this new love of his by the name of a dead woman he had struggled to move past himself.

'Amaryllis...' he said the name in his mind and found for the first time ever, it repulsed him slightly to hear it, but he pressed on repeating it 'Amaryllis, Amaryllis, Amaryllis.....' forcing his brain to become re accustomed to the name.

He sighed as he turned towards his room, in need of more clothes than just underwear to entertain his unexpected guest. With every step he repeated the name until he was dressed and ready to face his brother. One last time he repeated the name, but it was wrong, it was all wrong, it wasn't her, it wasn't the woman in his bathroom right now, who had been in his bed several minutes before. Out of anger, or defiance, or simply love for her as who she was, he took in a deep breath and whispered “….Amy....” and then he was gone from the room, leaving her name hanging in the air like a promise, a promise that no matter what, she was always and forever uniquely Amy to him.


	22. Chapter 22

“Francisco, I'm sorry to show up like this, I really didn't mean to-” Dante began apologizing as his younger brother re-entered the living room, now fully dressed in jeans and a t-shirt instead of a plain pair of boxers.

“Don't worry about it Dante,” Francisco said, waving his hand dismissively “you didn't interrupt anything if that's what you're worried about” the movement of his arm made him wince slightly, his eyes flicking across the room to the bottle of vicoden he'd been headed for before his brother arrived. He cursed silently, knowing that now he wouldn't be able to take any of the pills, at least not in front of his apparently clean brother, despite their history Francisco didn't feel right being so cruel to him at the moment.

Dante smiled at him nervously as he sat beside him on the sofa, “No, but I do think I might have just missed it,” Dante admitted with a soft laugh.

Francisco shrugged at him, “Well you're not wrong,” he replied blandly, “but you're not here to talk about my sex life are you Dante, you're here to talk about your sobriety,”

Dante's smile grew now, his eyes seeming to light up at the mention of his news, “That's right brother, I'm clean,” he sounded almost like a child, proud of a drawing he'd done in school.

“Yes,” Francisco nodded, “you mentioned that before,” he leaned back trying to get comfortable, “so tell me, what exactly prompted this sudden change in lifestyle?” he asked him, “have you come to god or something?”

Dante laughed at his question, “No Cisco, I didn't find religion or anything-”

“Francisco,” Francisco immediately corrected him, clenching his jaw at the sound of his childhood nickname.

Dante's smile fell, “Huh?” he asked in confusion, “you never minded before-”

“I do now,” Francisco said quickly, “I've grown out of that name Dante, so if you could use my full name I would appreciate it,”

Dante still seemed confused, but he nodded slowly “Alright, I'm sorry brother,” he said earning a grateful nod, “but no, I haven't found god or anything like that, I uh...I actually have you to thank for all this,”

At this Francisco tensed, “Me?” he asked “what could I have possibly done?”

Dante smiled again, this smile more of a mischievous smirk, “You called me worthless,” he replied, his smirk breaking into a grin as Francisco's frown deepened. 

“Dante,” Francisco forced a strained smile, trying to be civil even with Dante's seemingly playful attitude grating on his nerves, “while I understand you think that would stand out as a specific even between us, I have in fact called you worthless and much worse on several occasions since you started using, so if you could give me a few more details-”

Dante laughed now, a genuine laugh that sent his body shaking with the depth of it, “I'm sorry Francisco, I forgot how funny you look when you're frustrated,” he apologized as he composed himself “you still make the same face as when we were kids.” 

Francisco's jaw was clenched to the point of being painful, his head throbbing with the sheer exertion of it. He and his brother had never really had a good relationship, not since they were kids anyway, and over the years Francisco had come to accept that he was likely to never be close with his brother again. With Dante here, in his apartment, behaving as though nothing had happened between them, on top of Francisco's concern over losing or hurting Amy, he found his composure crumbling.

“You think this is funny?” Francisco asked, shutting Dante up immediately, “you think this is amusing? A surprise visit from Dante, where we talk about our childhood and I forgive you for everything you've done just like that?”

Dante frowned again, “Francisco I-”

“Let me explain something to you Dante,” Francisco cut him off, narrowing his eyes at his older brother, giving him a look that had made metas tremble and was making Dante go pale in the face, “I am not your little brother anymore, I'm not the same Francisco you knew back when we were kids, I'm not even the same Francisco you knew back in that hospital when they found me outside of Star Labs, but you Dante, you are still the same as you've always been,” he leaned towards him now, ignoring the pain in his back as he watched his brother flinch away from him, “where I have grown and evolved into something stronger, you have simply remained constant, arrested in your development by the drugs and the denial you clung to when our parents didn't believe you would become a famous pianist like you did. So as far as I am concerned, the only change you've made is in your clothes and cleanliness, and I do not have time to sit here and exchange banter with someone so unaffected by his own wrong doing,”

Dante stared at him, his mouth open slightly as what looked like tears began to form in his eyes, “You really don't think I have changed?” he asked in a whisper, “you really think that I'm just here to use you again like I did in the hospital? Like I did when we were younger?” Dante stood now, moving to the counter of the kitchen island and snatching up the bottle of vicoden, rattling it at Francisco fiercely, “is that why you left these out? As some sort of test? To see if I could keep my hands off of them long enough for you to believe me?” he looked down at the bottle and saw the name, “or perhaps you're simply angry that you took more after your big brother than you thought you would!” he suddenly moved to the balcony doors, opening them with frantic movements before rearing back and pelting the pill bottle as far as he could, “there! Now neither one of us has those damn things hanging over our heads!”

Francisco watched him with careful eyes, preparing himself for a physical fight if necessary, “You really think I'm using?” he scoffed, donning his usual arrogant smirk, “do you honestly think I'd be so stupid after watching what happened to you?”

“I think you might have the same sickness as me,” Dante replied pointing to his chest, “addiction is genetic Francisco, it runs in families, a fact which none of us wanted to acknowledge when I first started using because it was just easier to write me off that way,” he stalked back towards his younger brother, leaning over the arm of the couch at him as he continued, “I know what addiction does to people brother, how it eats at you from the inside. Remember Mom and her cigarettes? That was an addiction, and Papa and his 'Cerveza Reina' that he just had to have every night or he would start yelling at everyone? That was an addiction! I was just the first one in our family to take the obvious route and use the hard stuff, but it didn't change the fact that the others were addictions to!”

“You're starting to sound like a maniac Dante,” Francisco warned, “you might want to take a breath before you do something you regret,”

Dante let out a barking laugh, “I've already done something I regret, and it was coming to you,” he started heading for the door as he went on, “I thought out of all our family, you would be the one to see me as changed, but you're just as bad as the rest of them, nothing but judgment and resentment for what I did in the past, never mind that I'm trying, never mind that I want to-” he stopped dead as he turned back to look at his brother, his eyes focusing on a point behind his head as they grew wide and he put hand on his chest over his heart.

“Hello Dante,” the soft voice sent chills down Francisco's spine, “It's nice to finally meet you, my name is-”

“Amaryllis Warren...” Dante breathed as he continued to stare at her, “you're...but how....Francisco how is she...?”

“They made a mistake,” Francisco said easily, “the woman they found with me was someone else, Amaryllis survived but she suffered enough trauma that she was left with amnesia, she ran off before they found me because she was frightened but she came back to me when she started to remember,” he stood, Dante oblivious to the effort it took as he continued to stare at Amy behind him, “we live together now, she is my-” Francisco stopped short now to, his own eyes going wide as he finally turned to look at her. 

Amy stood, hair still damp but pulled back, in a dress that looked exactly like the one Amaryllis had worn the night she died. She met his eyes with a fearful gaze and finished his sentence for him, “I am his girlfriend,” she forced a smile as Francisco's eyes filled with horror an confusion, “Francisco has told me so much about you, you aren't leaving already are you Dante?”

“I was just...” he glanced to Francisco with his back turned to him and smiled slightly, “he's told you about me?” he asked, a small note of hope in his voice.

Amy nodded moving to take Francisco's had, “Oh yes, he mentioned you came here to tell him you had finally gotten rid of your drug habit,” she smiled at Dante as she squeezed Francisco's hand, “I'm happy to hear you're getting well again, I so hoped you would,”

Dante's smile grew now, “Thank you, that's....you're actually the first person to say that to me other than my sponsor,” 

Amy glanced sideways at Francisco, his eyes still fixed to where she had been, his whole body rigid as he clung to her hand, “I'm sorry Francisco, I didn't mean to surprise you like this,” she whispered to him before prying her hand from his grip, “I'm so sorry to hear that,” she said as she approached Dante, “how are you supposed to continue fighting if no one will support you?” she took his hands in his and smiled “but look at you, you've come this far already, perhaps you don't need it!”

Dante chuckled, “Oh no I'm sure I do,” he brought her hands to his lips and kissed them before smiling brightly at her, “I appreciate your encouragement, it's exactly what I was looking for when I came to see Francisco...” he glanced over to his brother, his smile faltering just a little, “but it seems he doesn't share your compassion on this matter, so I'm afraid I am leaving already, but it was very nice to meet you,”

“No,” Amy shook her head, “you must stay,” she pulled him towards the couch, “Francisco may not show it, but he is glad that you are getting well again, he is just under a lot of stress right now, what with his back injury, isn't that right Francisco?” she called to him hoping he would respond, or move, or do anything but stare at the place she had stood.

“Francisco?” Dante called to him, a mixture of concern and nerves in his voice as he waited.

Francisco swallowed thickly as he heard them both call to him, willing himself to calm down before he faced them, “Yes,” he agreed softly, turning slowly and carefully towards them, “that was actually why I had those pills you threw out the window Dante, I was taking them for my back,” he tried to put an irritated bite in his tone, and succeeded somewhat, but as he turned to face them and his eyes fell once again on Amy, he felt like his lungs were slowly leaking air and had to close his eyes for fear of fainting. 

“Oh my god...Francisco I'm so sorry I-” Dante began, “but why did it have that name on them?”

“He has to use an alias,” Amy explained, “working with Zoom means you have to be extra careful with that sort of thing-”

“Zoom?” Dante gasped looking between them both, “Francisco you...work for Zoom?”

Amy tensed, “You...you didn't know?”

Dante shook his head, “How do you work for....he only works with meta-humans-” he gasped again, “Francisco are you-?”

“We both are,” Amy blurted out, “He and I were both affected by the accelerator explosion, we're both metas,”

Dante continued to look at both of them as though he'd just been told they were space aliens, and Amy felt herself begin to panic, but then she felt a familiar warm hand rest on her shoulder, “Darling, could I have a word with you in private?” Francisco asked, turning and tugging her with him towards the bedroom without waiting for an answer.

Once they were behind the door of the bedroom Amy let out a gasping breath and began rambling, “Oh shit shit shit, I'm sorry I thought- I mean you said- I didn't realize- I'm so so sorry Francisco I didn't mean to-” but Francisco wasn't listening, instead he shoved her against the door and kissed her, rough and demanding as he began tugging at the zipper on the back of her dress. “Francisco what are you-mmm!” she tried to push him away but he had already unzipped her dress and moved his hands over her breasts as he kissed her again.

“I can't do this,” He breathed as he moved to her neck, nipping at her pulse, “I can't watch you pretend to be someone you're not, I don't want her back Amy I want you, only you, always you, not her” he shoved the dress down past her hips and pulled her against him, inhaling through his nose the clean intoxicating scent of her body.

“Francisco...” Amy tried weakly, her resolve like smoke, almost intangible as he worked his mouth further down towards her chest. 

“You looked so like her just then,” he muttered against her skin, “you looked like her ghost stood in my living room, I couldn't breath it was so real, I had to touch you, to taste your lips to know it was you Amy, fucking hell,” he moved back up to her mouth and kissed her again, putting his hands on her face to hold her closer, “please Amy, we can tell Dante anything else, but please don't go out there pretending to be her again, I couldn't stand it, I-”

“Francisco stop,” Amy said, covering his mouth with her fingertips, “It's too late, we've already told him that's who I am, if we tell him we were lying now-”

“I don't care!” Francisco snapped, shaking her fingers away, “Amy listen to me, you are all I ever wanted and all I will ever want again, and seeing you pretending....” he kissed her again, softer this time, almost gentle, “you are so much more than she ever was, and I love you too much to let you be anything less.”

Amy stared up at him, here eyes slightly wider as she placed her hand over her own mouth. 

Francisco frowned, thinking he had hurt her, “Amy, what is it, what's wrong?”

She shook her head, looking down, “Nothing I just-”

“No Amy look at me,” Francisco lifted her chin and found tears in her eyes, “Amy what is it? Did I hurt you?”

“No,” she said in a shaking voice, “no you did the opposite,” she uncovered her mouth to reveal a smile, “Francisco you....you just said...”

“I love you,” he realized, repeating the words out loud and making her gasp slightly at the sound of them. He smiled slightly, the realization filling him with happiness as he saw her blinking up at him, eyes wet with tears of that same happiness he felt, “I did,” he said with a laugh, “I do, oh god Amy...I love you,” 

Amy laughed, wiping her eyes as she did, “I thought you didn't want to say that, in case-”

“In case it wasn't true, I know, but Amy,” he helped her wipe her eyes a kissed her nose and forehead, “I do...I thought I might not, I thought maybe I was just seeing her in you but it's just you, only you, beautiful strong fierce sexy wonderful you,” he was shaking he was so happy, “Amy I don't want to frighten you by saying all this but I-”

“I love you to,” she said quickly, stopping his words, “I thought the same thing, that maybe I was using you to fill in for Cisco, or that maybe it was just because you saved me and I needed you, but it's not that, it's you Francisco, you with all your anger and fear and intelligence and bravery, I love you Francisco Ramon,” 

They kissed again, but not a fierce clash of tongues and teeth, or even an expression of need like the previous ones had been, no this was a kiss of love, like you read about in stories. It filled both of them to the brim with happiness at just the knowledge that they both felt for each other the same thing, and they didn't have to worry about feeling too much, or too little, they were equals in everything and it made them love each other all the more for it. 

When they broke apart, Francisco pulled her head to his chest in a hug, nuzzling the top of her head. “Francisco?” Amy said, her voice slightly muffled by his arm.

“Hmn?” he asked as he ran a slow hand down her back.

“We still need to tell your brother,” Amy replied pressing into him, “especially since I just told him you and I both work for Zoom,” 

“Hmm,” Francisco replied, hugging her a little closer, “I suppose you're right,” he agreed with a sigh, “which is going to be a very long and complicated conversation that might end with me having to kill him,”

Amy shot her head up from his embrace, “You what?!” she squeaked.

He chuckled at her, “I'm kidding,” he said then he thought about it, “well...mostly,” 

“Francisco!” 

“I'll only hospitalize him I promise, just a little warning!” he laughed as she pushed him away, “enough to make him understand not to come after us!”

“You are unbelievable!” she cried stomping her foot, “you would really beat your own brother to a pulp just to keep him away?”

“No,” he replied simply, “I'd do it to keep you safe though,”

Amy opened her mouth to reply but stopped, unable to hide the small smile that came to her lips, “He might surprise you y'know...” she said crossing her arms over her chest, suddenly very conscious of the fact that she was standing before him in her underwear.

Francisco smirked at her, lifting his hand to trail down her side, “That he might...” he agreed, “but perhaps we can find out later? I'm rather ready for round two after all that kissing, how about you?”

Amy smirked back at him, leaning into him as she said, “Oh I'm definitely ready, but only on one condition,” 

“Anything,” Francisco breathed as she lifted her hands under his shirt ever so slightly.

“You have to be nice to Dante so that we can sort this out,” she said scratching her nails over his skin all the way up his back, “which means no beatings, or shouting, or use of meta powers,” 

“Mmm for you I'd invite him to move in,” he growled as his lips brushed against hers.

“Would you really?” she asked scratching her way down again, “I'll keep that in mind...”


	23. Chapter 23

“You realize when I said 'for you I would invite him to move in,' I didn't actually mean-” Francisco was cut off mid sentence as Amy thrust a heavy box into his arms.

She smiled at him over the top of it, “Of course you didn't, you were simply distracted by my incredible body and that thing I can do with my hands,” she said standing on tip toe to kiss his nose, “but you have a whole adjacent suite going to waste with me moved into your bedroom, and your brother is family who needs you, so with all due respect and affection my love, you can get over it.”

He squinted at her for a moment, but his mouth curled up at the corners at her calling him 'my love' and he let the subject drop. Dante had taken the change of story rather well under the circumstances, barely even blinking when they told him Amy was Amaryllis's doppelganger and that there was a whole other world full of their doubles out there. He was more concerned with the fact that they were working for Zoom.

“Zoom is dangerous Francisco!” He'd said frantically, “He kills people!”

“No HE doesn't actually, that's our job,” Francisco had replied, making Dante gasp in shock, his eyes going wide as he looked at his little brother.

“You...you've killed people Francisco?” Dante had asked in a whisper, “and you Amy, you both....” 

“She's new to the roster, but yes Dante I have killed people,” Francisco had been cold and blunt, earning a disapproving look from Amy, “I told you Dante, I'm not your little brother anymore, I have powers beyond your imagination, the people I have killed were low life scum who deserved what was coming to them,”

“What Francisco means to say is,” Amy had cut in rather forcefully, putting her hand over Dante's as he stared at them both in wide eyed horror, “enforce Zoom's law as a means of survival, as metas we are under Zoom's watch more than most people, its not that we enjoy doing it, it's more if we didn't he would come after us,”

“Why don't you fight him then?” Dante asked taking her hand, “if you feel threatened then fight back! He can't be that strong-”

“He is” Francisco had cut him off, “So now you have two options Dante, option one you take this information and go to the police and turn us both in for whatever reward they might have for you, or you keep your mouth shut and I keep my hands from around your neck, which is it going to be?”

“Francisco, you agreed-” Amy began, but before she could finish, Dante had answered him.

“I would never turn you in to the police Francisco,” He'd said it with such honesty in his eyes that Francisco was almost moved to feel something other than irritation. “You may work for a dangerous man, and you may have done....bad things for him, but you are still my brother, and Amy you are family now to,” Dante had smiled at her then, making her chest tighten with happy surprise, “so if you tell me that you must do this to survive, then I am behind you one hundred percent.”

It wasn't long after that, Amy brought up the idea of Dante moving in so that he could be closer and well looked after, and while Francisco initially tensed at the idea, he couldn't find the will to say no to her smiling face. So here he was, carrying an absurdly heavy box of who knew what into the adjacent suite to his apartment, setting it on the floor with a grunt of pain as his back twinged slightly hurting him. “That wasn't too heavy for you was it?” Amy asked him, her face full of concern as she touched his arm affectionately.

“No, I just have to get used to moving in certain ways again is all,” he assured her, wrapping an arm around her waist, “but with your help, I'm sure we can both find some interesting new ways to bend both our bodies,” he teased her, planting a kiss on her throat.

Amy giggled but lifted his chin so he was looking at her, “Eyes up here mister,” she scolded him playfully, “we still have a few boxes that need to be brought in before we can even think about taking a break.”

Francisco actually pouted at her, a petulant whine escaping him as he nuzzled against her neck and hair “Dante is perfectly capable of bringing his own junk up here, there is an elevator after all,” he hugged her to him a little tighter then, placing small soft kisses against her neck just under her ear, “we can tell him I need to rest my back, he owes me for throwing my meds out a fucking window-” He let out a mix between a sigh and a groan as he felt Amy's hands thread into his hair and tug his head back.

“We are not going to lie to your brother again just so we can have sex,” she said firmly, earning another whine from him.

“We did it last time!” he complained, but then her hand tightened slightly in his hair and he lost the ability to speak for a moment.

“I said no,” she told him, her voice still firm, “but,” she continued bringing her lips to hover over his, “if you're a good boy, then you might get rewarded tonight when we're all done, ok?”

Francisco didn't speak any actual words, instead he let out an affirmative sounding growl and met her lips with a his. They kissed for a few moments, almost getting lost in each other until from the doorway they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. “I'm not uh, interrupting anything am I?” Dante asked with a smirk as Amy blushed and Francisco glared over at him.

“Not anymore you're not,” Francisco replied in annoyance, Amy pushing him back a step as she smiled over at Dante.

“Francisco was just complaining about his back,” she explained, “I was just convincing him to keep working a little longer,”

Dante nodded, setting down the box in his own hands “I see, well you both can take a break if you want, this is my stuff after all, I mean it was kind enough offering to let me live here with you-”

“Well since you're offering-” Francisco began, cutting him off, only to be cut off by Amy moving quickly away from him.

“We are not taking a break,” she announced, moving to stand beside Dante, “and asking you to live here was not a kindness Dante, you are family, we will help you in any way we can,” she touched his shoulder as he smiled down at her.

“Thank you,” he said honestly, “I can't even tell you both how grateful I am, this has been such a crazy time in my life and you both...” he looked away from her, his eyes shining slightly with tears, Francisco rolling his eyes at the sight.

“Yes, we are too kind, our generosity is overwhelming,” Francisco began mocking him as he stalked past him towards the door, “please spare us the water works, I may vomit.”

Dante hastily wiped his eyes, “I'm sorry Francisco, I just-” but he was already gone. Dante looked down then, a look of shame on his face, “I'm sorry,” he told Amy quietly, “I know it was selfish of me to come walking into your lives when I did, I just thought-”

“You haven nothing to apologize for,” Amy said, gently lifting his gaze to meet hers, “Francisco is the one in the wrong here Dante,”

He managed to smile at her, but it was a small timid thing, “I bet my doppelganger from your world isn't this much of a mess, is he?” he asked with a soft chuckle

Amy bit her lip in thought, a shrug lifting his shoulders, “Depends on your definition of mess I suppose,” she replied, “he was never an addict as far as I know, but he wasn't exactly a stellar individual,” she chuckled to herself before adding, “he's kind of a dick actually...”

Dante lifted an eyebrow at her, “Kind of a dick?” he asked, his smile growing slightly, “because the look on your face tells me otherwise,”

Amy laughed, nodding, “Ok he was a major dick, but that's only because his parents treated him like royalty and messed up his head. That and the whole concert pianist career really inflated his ego,”

“He was a pianist?” Dante asked, his eyes lighting up

Amy nodded again, “He was,” she confirmed, then she took his hands in hers, softly squeezing his fingers, “and you could be to,” she smiled at him, a bright sunny smile that made him forget to breath for a moment, “maybe I can convince Francisco to find a piano for you, then I could hear you play.”

Dante blushed a little, tugging his hands back embarrassed, “I don't know that you and Francisco deserve to suffer through that, I haven't played anything in years,” 

“But you will,” Amy assured him, “I promise, I'll get you a piano if I have to tie him down and torture it out of him,”

“Who is tying who down now?” Francisco asked as he reappeared in the doorway with a new box, looking between the pair of them suspiciously.

Dante looked down, brushing past him out the door as Amy smiled at him sweetly, “You'll find out later darling,” she promised as she approached him, “I'm sure you won't mind one bit,” she pressed a kiss to his cheek as she passed him and left. 

Francisco stood in the doorway a few moments more, squinting in thought as he muttered to himself, “I swear to god, if Dante and Amy become friends I am going to jump off the goddamn balcony....”


	24. Chapter 24

“She seriously hasn’t texted you back or anything?” Iris asked as she and Cisco entered Jitters, the early morning crowd already forming a line at the counter.

Cisco shrugged, “Ok well I mean, yes she has texted me back, but only like one word answers, y’know? ‘How you doing Cait?’ ‘Fine’, ‘So I work with Joe now’ ‘K’, that sort of thing,”

Iris shook her head, “That’s so weird, you and Caitlin seemed so close before...” she said, giving him a sympathetic frown.

“We were,” He replied, “or at least I thought we were...I mean that kind of devastation tends to bring people together, and going through it more than once?” he shook his own head and sighed, “I guess she just needs more space this time.”

“This time?” Iris asked as they shuffled forward in line.

Cisco nodded, “Last time, when the accelerator first blew, she didn’t come into work for a week, and Docto- I mean Wells, he said it was completely normal because she’d just lost Ronnie and everything, that’s why when she finally did come back she still had her job,” he raked a hand through his hair, remembering how alone he’d felt back then, what with Caitlin shutting him out and Amy missing, but he shook that memory off and pressed on, “she apologized first thing when she got back, said she needed some time to come to terms with what had happened, and then for a while she was robo-Cait which she does when she’s upset, but at least then she would talk to me,”

Iris nodded and gave him another sympathetic look, “Listen Cisco, I know you’re worried about her, I mean I’m worried about her to, but don’t beat yourself up about this ok?” she put a hand on his shoulder and smiled, “maybe she does need some time, she is kind of entitled to it after losing Ronnie again, but don’t let yourself feel like you have to be the one to help her get through it,”

Cisco frowned in confusion, “Ok but Iris, I’m her friend-” he started, but Iris shook her head.

“Cisco you are one of her friends,” she clarified pointedly, “you might have been her only friend back when this whole mess started, but that’s not true anymore, she’s got the rest of us now to,” Cisco nodded, giving her a half hearted smile, then she added, “and so do you,” and his smile grew a little more.

“I know,” he acknowledged softly, “it’s just weird y’know? I know we’re all here for each other, but with Barry going solo, and Caitlin giving me the silent treatment...I dunno it’s like being able to see and hear everyone, but they can’t see and hear me, if that makes any kind of sense?”

Iris shook her head, “Mmm not really no,” she laughed, “but I think I know what you mean anyway, back before Star Labs, Barry was my go to guy when I was feeling lousy, but now Barry’s busy, so now I’m talking to you,” she poked him in the arm and he chuckled.

“Wow, thanks Iris, way to make a guy feel like second best, ouch,” he teased, Iris wrinkling her nose and shoving him lightly in return, “hey, watch it!” he laughed, stumbling sideways a little and bumping into-

“Oh!” The familiar sound of a surprised Caitlin Snow sent his head snapping around to look at her, the coffee that she’d held in her hand now strewn across the floor. “Why don’t you watch where you’re-” she started to snap, but as her eyes found Cisco’s face, her eyes grew wide, “Cisco?” she squeaked, a blush starting to creep across her face as he smiled awkwardly at her.

“Hey Caitlin, long time no see,” Cisco immediately wanted to kick himself at his own response, of course he hadn’t seen her, she was working through some stuff, she didn’t do that around other people, stupid. He shook his head to clear off that train of thought and immediately bent to pick up the plastic cup he’d knocked from her hand, “sorry about your drink, we didn’t see you,” he gestured back towards Iris, who smiled and waved.

“It’s fine,” Caitlin said quickly, a twitchy smile appearing on her face as she waved back at Iris, “well I mean, it’s not fine…I didn’t get to drink any...” she tucked her hair behind her ear, a nervous gesture Cisco hadn’t seen her do in ages.

“I’ll buy you another,” he offered, tossing the cup, straw, and lid as one of the waitresses approached with a mop.

“Oh no that’s alright-” she shook her head, moving to try to leave, but with the line boxing her in against the mopping waitress, she was basically trapped.

Cisco gave her a soft smile, one that he hoped told her he understood if she felt awkward and didn’t want to talk, and it seemed to work as he watched her shoulder’s seem to relax a little as he looked back at him, “Come on Cait, it’s just some iced coffee, I got it,” he said quietly.

Caitlin looked as though she were honestly considering leaping over the mop in the waitress’ hands and bolting for the door, but as she held eye contact with Cisco, his warm brown eyes full of the kindness and caring she loved and remembered, she caved, “Alright,” she said with a nod, “thank you Cisco.”

Cisco smiled as she moved to stand beside him in the line, “Don’t mention it,” he said with a shrug, honestly just glad that she’d agreed to stick around for a little longer, even if it only extended until she got her new coffee.

\----------- -------------- -------------- ----------- ----------- ------------

By the time they’d reached the counter and ordered their drinks, Caitlin was noticeably more relaxed, partially due to Iris making small talk about her new position at Mercury Labs, but mostly in part to the soft warm smile that stuck on Cisco’s face every time she looked at him, as if she hadn’t been shutting him out for the past three months. It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to talk to him...ok well maybe that was exactly what it was, but not because she hated him or something terrible like that, it was just, Cisco Ramon was like cinnamon sugar when all she deserved was salt. She knew he would be there, waiting with open arms to tell her everything was gonna be ok, and that things would go back to normal, and the pain would ease, and all the things that a good friend would say to someone in her position; but she couldn’t say the same to him. 

That first night, after Wells had been erased, she had sat alone in her room crying her eyes out, but she hadn’t been crying over Ronnie. She thought she had, his name had escaped her lips more than once before she realized that even though she had lost him for a second time, his wasn’t the only face in her head, it wasn’t just his voice in her ears. It pained her to realize she was sort of accustomed to the pain of losing Ronnie, but Amy? That had been a different pain entirely. Caitlin had never really had a female friend before, all the other girls she’d gone to school with always thought her to be prudish and annoying, but Amy had always treated her with kindness and respect. Amy would go out of her way to be friendly with her, and when Cisco came along it was like watching two puzzle pieces fit together, and they had all been happy. After the accelerator explosion when Amy had gone missing, she’d told everyone her week off had been to mourn Ronnie, which she hadn’t lied about...she just just left out the part where she had called every hospital and shelter she could think of to try to find Amy and bring her home. She’d thought to herself, ‘maybe, if I can just bring Amy back, everything will be ok again...’ but she’d come up empty, and decided that her next best option was to just go back to work and force herself to move on. This time though, this time there was no finding Amy to bring her home, because Amy was gone, just like Ronnie, just like Eddie; gone forever, never coming back, and that knowledge alone made it hard for her to breathe, but knowing that just like her, Cisco had lost the person he loved again...that was what hurt most of all.

“Caitlin?” Cisco’s voice shook her from her thoughts, and she looked into his smiling face to see him holding out her drink.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the iced coffee with a small smile, “I’ll try not to drop this one.”

Cisco chuckled, but as she started to leave, Iris called after her, “Hey Caitlin, you have a few minutes?” she asked, Caitlin turning to her with a nervous look, “I mean I think it would be nice for us to sit and chat for a bit...y’know, catch up...”

Caitlin looked to Cisco for a split second, subconsciously hoping he’d make an excuse for her and let her go, but the hope in his eyes as he waited for her response hit her like a ton of bricks in the heart. “I uh...yeah I have a few minutes,” she managed a real looking smile as she saw Cisco’s eyes light up.

They got a table by the window, sitting in an awkward triangle of silence for a few moments, each one waiting for another to start talking. Then Iris sighed, “You know what, I will be right back, I just have to use the bathroom real quick,” she set her drink on the table and flashed a smile before scurrying off towards the restrooms. 

Cisco narrowed his eyes as he watched her go, knowing she was lying to give him and Caitlin a chance to talk alone, but he couldn’t deny he was somewhat grateful for it. He turned back to Caitlin, watching her nibbled her lip as she peered down at her coffee, stirring it with the straw just to have something to do with her hands. “So, how’s working with Christina McGee? I hear she’s nice...”

Caitlin looked up at him and nodded, “Yeah she’s...she’s very nice, very supportive of our work...” she pressed down on one of the little bubbles in her drink lid, “hows uh...working with Joe?”

Cisco shrugged, “It’s nice, I get to build stuff so that’s fun, Chief Singh is kinda suspicious of me though...probably because I tried to make modifications to one of the coffee pots in the station break room that didn’t go so well, but I mean it was on it’s last legs anyway,” Caitlin chuckled, a soft shy sound that made him smile, “I didn’t think you got that text actually...” he said, and she immediately tensed again. Cisco mentally kicked himself for running his mouth.

“I get all your texts actually,” she said in a quiet voice, “I’m just usually at work, so I can’t really reply-”

“You’re at work at three on the morning?” he blurted out, cutting her off before visibly wincing, “sorry, never mind, don’t answer that, I-”

“No I’m not usually, I’m in bed,” Caitlin snapped, then she winced to before letting out a sigh, “actually I’m usually lying awake in bed at three in the morning, trying to convince my brain to let me sleep...and yes I get you texts then to.”

Cisco stared at her, unsure of how to continue, not wanting to irritate her, or scare her off, but holy shit she was actually opening up? “You can’t sleep either?” he asked, hoping it was a neutral enough question to keep her from shutting down again.

She bit her lip again and nodded, “I mean sometimes I can, if I take a sleeping pill, or have a glass of wine or two...but most of the time I just stare at the ceiling and think.”

Cisco nodded, fighting the urge to reach out to take her hand across the table, “Cartoons,” he said, elaborating at her confused frown, “they help me sleep, the really simple ones on like the kindergarten networks? They help slow things down up here,” he tapped his temple and smiled.

Caitlin smiled to, small and timid, “I always figured you for a cartoon network kinda guy,”

Cisco shrugged again, “I mean yeah, but not when I’m trying to sleep!” that earned him a laugh, a real genuine laugh, and god that felt good. Feeling brave he let his hand reach across the table and sit on top of hers, “you know you could always call me, when you can’t sleep I mean...we could talk, or just watch cartoons together…”

“How would we watch cartoons together over the phone?” she asked, still smiling.

“Well we just tune to the same channel and talk about what’s happening,” he said matter o’factly, “I mean we have the same service right?”

Caitlin nodded, “Yeah I think so,”

“There you go then, easy!” He chuckled, and she chuckled to and it felt like things were starting to get better again when-

“Do you think Amy is ok wherever she ended up?” 

Cisco’s smile dropped, his brain feeling like it had just been doused with ice water at Caitlin’s question, “What?” was all he managed to say as Caitlin’s eyes filled with panic and she pulled her hand out from under his.

“I just...I thought…never mind ok, forget I said anything,” she grabbed her drink and stood up, “sorry I really have to get to work, tell Iris I said it was nice seeing her again!” she tried to hurry past him towards the door, but halfway through her mad dash he caught her arm.

“Do you?”

The question caught her off guard, probably as much as her question had done to him. She turned to look at him, the familiar sting of tears pricking at her eyes as she met his, full of sadness and confusion and somehow...hope. “Do I what?” she asked, just to be sure.

“Do you think she’s ok?” he asked, his voice almost calm in it’s monotone, “do you think she made it?” 

Caitlin wasn’t sure if he was asking her seriously or not, because hypothetically Amy could be any number of places, that wormhole obviously led to somewhere, or at least Well believed it did. She swallowed the rising lump in her throat and nodded a jerky little nod, “I’d like to think she did, I’d like to think that she’s living somewhere, doing ok, even if it is without us...” Caitlin’s voice shook as she answered him, the tears now welling in her eyes, threatening to fall.

Cisco nodded, a sort of absent movement of his head, “Then I suppose I do to,” he said with a half smile, “it’s certainly better than the alternative, isn’t it?”

“Yeah...it is,” she agreed, then she felt his hand let go of her arm and he smiled, the same warm smile from before only this time she could see the tinge of pain hidden behind it.

“Thanks Caitlin, it was really good to see you again,” his voice was quiet and almost cheerful if she didn’t know any better.

Caitlin nodded, “You to Cisco,” she said, and then she was off, before more tears could fall, before she started bawling in the middle of the crowded coffee shop, she ran to her car and locked the doors, drawing in a few shuddering breaths before starting it up and driving.

Iris came back from the bathroom a moment later, frowning at the sight of Cisco sitting alone, “What happened?” she asked sitting beside him, “did you guys talk?”

Cisco looked up at her and nodded, “Yeah we did,” he confirmed, “she had to run to work though, some emergency or another,” he sipped his drink before pointing to her, “she said to tell you it was nice to see you again though.”

Iris frown stayed put for a moment, searching Cisco’s face for any sign that he was hiding something, but she decided that if he was it was probably best to let him mull over it before asking any questions, so she put on a smile and sipped her own drink, “Well I’m sorry I missed her, is she doing ok?”

Cisco nodded again, “Yeah,” he said stirring his drink with the straw, “or at least, she will be.” 

“And hopefully I will be to...”


	25. Chapter 25

“Seriously, are you trying to hit me, like...at all?” Francisco asked as he easily dodged a bright red energy ball thrown from a very frustrated Amy across the room. They were in a private gym area, a space on the ground floor of the palisades to which Francisco had a key. It was well equipped, with a stack of blue floor pads against one wall, a small weight room in the back and racks of various weapons hung all around the upper half of the high ceilinged room.

“Shut up!” she snapped, clenching her fists at her sides, “It’s a little harder to concentrate on blowing your face off now that I don’t hate you,” she released her fist and flexed her fingers, squinting at him for a moment as she assessed her target.

Francisco smirked at her, “As endearing as I’m sure you meant that to sound, the goal here is to hit me, or at least come near me,” he glanced at the charred spot on the floor where her last attempt had landed, a good three feet away from him, “so I ask again, are you honestly trying?”

Amy tilted her head to the side and gave him a curious look, “What if I said no?” she asked putting a hand on her hip, “I mean we both already know I can hold my own in a fight, I knocked evil Ronnie right out of the sky, if he’s the best Zoom has then I think I’m fi-”

“He’s not the best Zoom has,” Francisco cut her off, “I am.”

Amy snorted “Your modesty is astounding,” she quipped, but Francisco didn’t laugh, or smile, his expression had become serious.

“Its the truth,” he replied simply, “and last I checked, I can still knock you on your ass,”

Amy frowned at him, “Why does it matter if you can beat me?” she asked, “it’s not like we’re ever going to be fighting each other….is it?”

She watched as Francisco clenched his jaw, his gaze holding hers for a moment before he said, “Zoom doesn’t like his followers to have extra curricular interaction if you will, he sees it as a threat to his authority. If he keeps us all separated from each other then it makes us easier to manipulate because we don’t have any personal loyalties to any of the other metas we work with,” he took a step towards her, his hands flexing at his sides as he approached, “those who have developed such attachments have been dealt with in the most unforgiving fashion, I myself have taken part in a few forced separations under Zoom’s order, and I can tell you, one or both parties often end up dead,” he was still taking slow steady steps towards her, Amy following his every move with her eyes, her arms crossed over her chest, but her shoulder set and ready for what she suspected was coming. He smiled finally, stopping a mere foot before her, but it wasn’t the kind loving smile she had grown accustomed to seeing on his face these days, it was a hard, predatory one that she imagined he saved for the people he targeted, “So in answer to you question, Amy my love, yes there may come a time when we do have to fight each other, if for no other reason than to convince Zoom of our loyalty,” he raised his hands out to the sides, a cocky gesture to make him seem harmless, “and I thought you’d like to train for that possibility, after all...you’d be going up against the best,” in a second his stance changed, his body bracing for the recoil as he shot his hand out towards her, palm out and shot a powerful vibration.

But Amy saw it coming, and as the air began to vibrate before her, she spun out of the way, collecting a ball of energy in her hand as she moved and throwing it square into his shoulder, sending him spinning through the air until he landed with a thud, face down on the floor. “Holy shit!” Amy squealed, rushing to his side, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I only meant to knock you back a little bit, not throw you across the- Ahhh!!!” she screamed as without warning Francisco flipped over and blasted her again, sending her flying backwards into the wall. She hit it with a loud thump before falling to the floor in a tangle of limbs, the wind knocked out of her entirely. 

Francisco didn’t get up, instead letting out a groan as he lay there on the floor for a moment, his shoulder throbbing where she’d hit him. When he finally say up and looked over at Amy, he found her sprawled unconscious on the floor and felt a twinge of guilt hit him in his gut. He crawled over to her, lifting her head gently to cradle in his lap, “Amy...my love...wake up...” he coaxed her softly, stroking her cheek with his fingers as her eyes fluttered open. He felt the tightness in his gut ease as she looked up at him, blinking first in confusion, then with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry that I hit you as hard as I did, that part was a bit of a reflex,” Francisco began quietly, brushing a tear from her cheek, “but I meant what I said when I told you we might have to prove our loyalties to Zoom, and if I go easy on you he will know, so forgive me for what I must do, but know that I am only trying to keep you safe by teaching you how to withstand the full force of my powers,” Amy opened her mouth to speak but Francisco stopped her with a kiss, willing the tears that threatened in his own eyes to remain in his head.

When he pulled back to look at her, Amy’s eyes were closed, her hand clutching at his arm with a pained expression scrunching her features, “Well I guess that makes it official then,” she croaked, her eyes opening slowly to look up at him again.

Francisco frowned at her, “Makes what official darling?” he asked in confusion.

At this Amy cracked a smile, twitchy and pained as it was, and said “You’re the worst gym teacher I’ve ever had,” she chuckled softly as Francisco's eyes widened for a moment before he shook his head.

“You’re not mad at me then?” he asked just to be sure.

Amy shook her head, moving to try to sit up and hissing at the movement, “I would be if I thought you were lying, but I don’t, and besides,” she poked his shoulder earning a hiss from him as she smirked, “I sort of started it anyway.” Francisco laughed at her then, before pulling her in for another kiss, this one longer and more hungry than before, “Easy tiger, you just threw me into a wall...” she teased him, pulling away and laughing as he chased her lips with his own.

He put a hand on her side, slowly trailing it up towards her chest, “Is it a crime for me to be turned on by how strong and sassy my girlfriend is?” he asked, Amy batting his hand away just before it reached it’s goal.

“A crime no, but it certainly distracts from training,” Amy stood, smiling down at him, “besides, I’m not the type of girl who screws around in a sweaty gym with her trainer, I’ve got more class than that.” 

Francisco nodded up at her, “That you do, my beautiful Red Star,” he grinned before standing beside her.

Amy grinned as well, backing away from him, “So how about you blow off some of that pent up energy by trying to hit me again,” she suggested, forming an energy ball in her hand, “I promise to make it a lot harder this time,” 

“The question isn’t can I hit you again, it’s can you hit me,” Francisco replied, moving to circle her, Amy mirroring his movement, “and if you can, “ he added as he smirked at her, “how hard?” He sprang into action, flinging his hands up and blasting her with a vibration from both at once, but Amy was ready once again, and she dodged his attack with an almost dancer like grace, and pelted two red energy balls at him, one hitting his knee, the other his stomach. Francisco fell with a groan, and Amy froze for a moment, fighting her instinct to go to him and make sure he was alright. She was rewarded with a proud smile from him once he’d caught his breath, “much better,” he said, getting to his feet, “but if your opponent is still able to stand then you haven’t won yet,”

Amy frowned at him, “You want me to make it so that you can’t walk?” she asked shaking her head.

Francisco shrugged, “Not necessarily, I honestly wouldn’t like to be seen being dragged back to our apartment because of you, but you could at least hurt me a little bit,”

Amy raised an eyebrow, “You like pain then do you?” she flashed him a wicked grin, “is that why you always get excited when you watch me fight? I’ll keep that in mind for when we get back upstairs,” she winked at him, then in a flash of red she pelted him with another energy ball, this one hitting him in the chest and knocking him on his ass. “Fair is fair,” she called to him in a sing song voice, “now how about you get up, and quit wasting time with the smack talk, it’s not helping you is it?”

Francisco felt a sudden swell of pride and love for Amy as he got to his feet. She was almost to wonderful for words...his perfect match. In another world, in another life, he might have asked her to marry him, but as their life stood now marriage would be little more than a business contract. Still if he had to fight every meta in this universe to keep her he would, even if he had to kill Zoom himself. He had flinched at that thought at first, the night he’d told Amy he loved her it had come whispering into his brain as she lay in his arms, ‘you’ll have to kill him to be free, you’ll have to kill him if you ever want to be happy...’. It had frightened him, the idea that he was capable of even thinking such a thing, worried that the demonic speedster might somehow be listening into his very soul. But in the days that followed, the thought never really left, and as he thought it over and over again, he began to realize that he just might be able to do it, with the proper planning….

\------------------------- ------------------------ --------------------- ---------------------

“Fuck me,” Amy sighed as she plopped, panting and tired onto the floor of the gym, leaning back against the wall for support.

Francisco plopped down beside her, panting himself though not as hard, a mischievous grin on his face as he said, “Maybe later, after a shower...”

Amy laughed at him, shaking her head, “That wasn’t a request,” she said, “it’s just...I hadn’t realized how long it’s been since I did any training,”

“How long?” Francisco asked curiously.

Amy shrugged, “I dunno...How long exactly have I been here?”

Francisco mentally recounted the days and weeks she had spent here, back to the night that he found her, “Three months if I’m not mistaken,” he replied, then frowned curiously, “who trained you?”

“I thought you said you saw me on my Earth,” she replied, “you didn’t see that part?”

“I didn’t really look that far back honestly, I sort of stopped at the point where I found out who you were, that’s all I needed to know,” 

Amy nodded, “Oh...well The Green Arrow trained me, do you have him here?”

Francisco nodded, narrowing her eyes, “Yes, he’s an old man named Robert Queen who thinks he’s making a difference by running around looking like Robin Hood,” he chuckled, “that geriatric old nut trained you?”

Amy shook her head with a laugh, “Good lord no, Robert Queen is his father, no I was trained by Oliver, his son”

“Oliver Queen?” Francisco repeated, “the one who died on their yacht in the middle of the ocean?”

Amy nodded, “Maybe on this world, but on mine it was the other way around, Robert Queen died, Oliver survived, and went through some pretty insane stuff to get back to Starling City. He’s almost worse than you when it comes to training.”

Francisco quirked an eyebrow “Almost?” he asked.

Amy nodded, smiling and wiggling her fingers at him, “He’d not a meta, so the most he can do is beat you up.”

“Ah,” Francisco nodded, “he beat you up a lot then? During training?”

“The first week,” Amy conceded with a nod, “but once I got the hang of it, and started incorporating my powers, not so much” she grinned gleefully and Francisco couldn’t help but grin back. He might have tried to kiss her then if a knock hadn’t sounded on the door of the gym, before it opened and Dante peeked in.

“Oh are you guys taking a break?” he asked, stepping inside, pulling a room service cart in with him.

“That depends,” Francisco replied cooly, “do you think you can stand still long enough for target practice?”

Amy smacked him on the arm, “Yes Dante we are,” she called to him as he wheeled the cart towards them, “what’s that then?”

Dante smiled at her, looking a little like a kid showing off his new drawing, “I brought you both some lunch, I thought you might be hungry.”

Francisco rolled his eyes but Amy smiled back at him, “Aww, thank you, that was very sweet of you,” she stood and looked over the selection, “Isn’t this your lunch break though?” she asked picking out some grapes to munch on.

Dante nodded, fiddling with his gold name tag pinned to his shirt. Since moving in, Dante had taken up a job in the palisades, training under Puckett to become the secondary concierge for the building, Puckett being the only one left after Francisco moved in and scared the others off. “I wanted to bring you this first, before I went and had my own lunch,” he gestured towards the door, “I’ll go back to the kitchen now, good luck with your training though!” he began to back away, but at Amy’s disappointed frown Francisco called to him.

“Wait,” he said, sounding as though the effort of calling to his brother was an annoyance, “why don’t you stay and eat with us?”

Dante looked at him with wide eyes, Amy doing the same but with a small smile curving her lips, “Y-you really mean it Francisco?” Dante asked hesitantly, “you wouldn’t mind?”

Francisco shrugged, choosing to look over the food instead of at his brother as he replied, “Seeing as how you live with us now, I’m going to have to get used to your presence whether I mind it or not,” he glanced up at Amy who was scowling at him slightly before adding “besides, you are my brother and I won’t have you lying to me about some imagined lunch waiting for you elsewhere.”

Dante flinched at his words, Amy letting out a small gasp, “How did you know?” Dante asked quietly, looking down at his feet in embarrassment.

Francisco turned to him and tapped his temple, “It’s what I do Dante, I know things,” he collected one of the plates on the cart and began loading it with food, “and since we’re on the subject, you should know that you don’t have to starve yourself, I have a well stocked kitchen and enough money to feed one more person without a problem.”

Dante looked over at him and smiled “I’m sure you do brother, but it doesn’t change the fact that if I use my own money to eat, I will know I have earned it, and that’s something more important than the food itself.”

Amy gave him a proud little smile, nodding that she understood, but Francisco simply tsk’d and rolled his eyes, “Please spare me your self affirmation sermons Dante, I would like to eat before losing my appetite,” he finished loading the plate and turned to him, “now sit down and eat before your break ends,” he held the plate out to Dante who seemed reluctant to take it. “I won’t say it again,” Francisco added, an edge to his voice that made Dante rush forward to take it.

“But I only brought two plates,” Dante muttered softly, to which Amy quickly piped up.

“We can share Dante,” she held her own plate up with a smile, “Francisco and I can both use this one.” Dante nodded and did as he was told, sitting against the wall before tucking into the plate his brother had made for him. Once he was distracted, Amy whispered to Francisco, “That was so nice of you Francisco!” she grinned at him as he added to her plate.

Francisco shrugged, “You like him,” he replied blandly, “while I may think he’s a pain in the ass, you don’t, so I suppose I ought to make an effort not to run him off.”

Amy nodded “Oh I see, so you not being a dick to your brother is for my benefit?”  
Francisco smiled at her sweetly, “Everything I do is for you my love, didn’t you know?”

Amy gave him a soft loving smile then, “If you’re going to blame me for you developing a heart, then guilty as charged,” she chuckled before kissing him.

“Not developing one,” Francisco corrected when they pulled apart, “reminded me it was still there.”


	26. Chapter 26

“Well if it isn’t little miss Red Star,” Ronnie’s doppelganger grinned at Amy as he sauntered up to where she and Reverb waited for him, “I was wondering when we’d finally be working together, Reverb has been hiding you away this whole time, I was starting to think he’d never share.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Francisco stiffen just a little at his comment, but Amy smirked back at him, “Or maybe I didn’t wanna share him,” she suggested with a shrug, “I’m selfish like that sometimes.” Deathstorm raised his eyebrows at her as Francisco swallowed a chuckle at her side, trying to keep his face impassive in front of his comrade.

 

It was Amy’s first mission as part of Zoom’s crew, a three person job to locate and recruit a meta with the power to control metal in all it’s various forms. “It’s a simple intimidation job, hardly any violence involved in those usually,” Francisco had promised her that morning, one arm wrapped around her waist as they lay in bed, his mouth kissing a path up and down the back of her neck, “we’ll be working with Deathstorm who you’ve met,”

Amy giggled, “You mean who’s ass I beat?” she amended, earning a soft scrape of teeth across her neck that made her shiver.

“Yes, that would be him,” Francisco agreed pulling her tighter against him, “so this should be easy,” he rested his forehead against her hair and added quietly, “for both of us.”

At that she turned in his grasp to face him, threading a hand through his hair and pushing it back so she could see his face, “You don’t have to worry so much about me Francisco, we’ve already established I can handle whatever you throw at me, anything else should be easy by comparison,”

“It’s not the strength of your powers that concerns me Amy,” he told her softly, “It’s the strength of your light,” he took her hand from his hair and pressed it flat against his chest over his heart, doing the same with his own hand over hers, “you’re a sun in this dark twisted shit hold of a city, and I don’t want that to change, I don’t want you to change because of this,” he smiled sadly, averting his eyes from hers as he said, “it’s too late for me, but for you…for you there’s still a chance.”

Amy was silent for a moment, watching the crease in his brows deepen, and the set of his shoulders stiffen, feeling the steady beat of his heart under her palm. Then without a word she sat up, pushing the covers off of them both as she climbed out of the bed and went to their dresser, opening her underwear drawer in search of something. Francisco watched her curiously, almost forgetting his concerns as he admired her form from the bed, neither one of them bother to sleep in pajamas anymore. When she finally turned back to him, she held two things in her hand: one was a thin black bracelet made of braided black leather cords that held a small silver circular charm at it’s center, and the other was a small silver and black switch blade that he had given her as part of one of their training sessions. 

Francisco eyed the knife dubiously, “My love, as much as I enjoy experimentation in the bedroom, I really must draw the line at knife play,” he said, earning a chuckle from her as she sat back on the bed.

“Noted,” she said with a smile, setting the knife down beside her. She tilted her head to the side, pushing her hair away before pulling out a tuft near the base of her neck, “do you think you can braid this for me? I can’t quite reach it properly,” she said, holding it out for him. Francisco nodded, a frown once again creasing his face as he set to work making the little braid. When he finished, he tied a little knot in the end and released it back to her, the whole thing about two inches long and thin as one of the cords of the bracelet she held in her lap. “Thank you,” she said sweetly, then she lifted the knife, flicked it open, and with a stroke she cut the braid from her head, tying a knot in the open end before winding it into a small little spiraled ring in her fingers. 

“What exactly are you doing?” Francisco finally asked, completely at a loss until she lifted the bracelet in her free hand, and opened the circular silver pendant, revealing a small space inside just large enough for the lock of hair she’d just cut. 

“I had Dante pick this up for me the other day,” she explained, carefully stowing her hair into the compartment before snapping it shut, “I saw it on the shop’s website and had an idea,” she took his arm gently, slipping the bracelet on his wrist and adjusting it to fit him snugly, “you said your powers work by touching things sometimes right? That if you touch something that belonged to someone else, you can vibe where they are or where they will be?” Francisco nodded, his eyes lighting up with realization.

“This is so I can keep track of you isn’t it?” he asked, pinching the pendant in his fingers, “you planned this on your own?”

Amy nodded, a smile tugging her lips, “It’s also so I can keep track of you,” she replied, brushing his hand aside and flipping the little pendant over, “I installed a tracker in the bottom of this little thing which pings my phone whenever I need to find you,” she popped the other side open to reveal a little blinking blue light and machinery before snapping it closed again, “it’s not as good as some of the other work I’ve done, but then again, I didn’t have a workshop full of – mmm!” she was cut off as Francisco pulled her into a kiss, using his larger frame to push her back against the pillows as his mouth worked against hers.

Amy kissed him back, letting her hands trail down his sides as he moved on top of her, the weight of him sinking her into the mattress slightly as he pressed against her body. When they eventually broke for air, Francisco took her face in his hands and smiled down at her so brightly it made Amy light headed, “Must you be so perfect Amy Warren?” he asked her softly, “every time I think I’ve reached the pinnacle of my love for you, you do something like this and I find I’ve barely glimpsed the peak,” he trailed his hands down towards her chest, his eyes turning hungry as she caught her breath beneath him.

“Is that your poetic way of saying thank you?” she teased him, arching up into his touch slightly as he ghosted his fingertips over her breasts.

Francisco smirked at her, “Not simple enough for you?” he asked, “should I be more direct then?” he brought a hand down between her legs and rested it there, waiting for her answer.

Amy grinned up at him, lacing her fingers with his other hand, “I do love you for your directness, Reverb.” Francisco didn’t need to be told twice, his hand immediately going to work, earning him a breathy gasp in thanks. They spent several more hours in bed after that, taking turns unraveling each other until they were boneless and euphoric in their post orgasmic haze. Amy fell asleep in Francisco’s arms, huddled against him with a hand on his chest. As he held her and watched her sleep, Francisco stole the occasional glance at the bracelet on his wrist, each look making him smile knowing Amy would never be out of reach for him now, she had given him the map to find her any hour of the day; and though he still worried for the inherent goodness of her being as their mission drew nearer, he could feel the amount of tension she had eased in him with her gift, like a warm hand on his back soothing it away with broad slow strokes.


	27. Chapter 27

“Or maybe I didn’t wanna share him, I’m selfish like that sometimes.” 

Deathstorm smirked after his initial surprise wore off, amused by Amy’s response, “Fair enough,” he said, then from a few feet away in the shadows another voice drawled:

“You can keep him honey, nobody else wants him anyhow,” 

“What is she doing here?” Francisco growled, turning his goggled gaze towards Deathstorm, the look underneath it Amy could imagine was murderous.

The she in question came forward, her hair white as snow and skin nearly as pale to match, her smirking lips painted blue and shimmery. Amy’s eyes widened for just a moment when she saw her, recognition shooting down her spine like an ice cube down her shirt. “I was bored,” Killer Frost said as she moved in close to Deathstorm’s side, “and I wanted to meet this new recruit I’ve been hearing so much about,” she rolled her gaze towards Amy, “so, Red Star is it? Name’s Killer Frost,” she extended a hand towards Amy, who started to extend her hand back, but Francisco stepped between them.

“I don’t know if you’re just stupid, or if you’ve also got a death wish in that frozen brain of yours Frost, but I specifically sent word to Deathstorm that this is a three person job,” Francisco pointed to all of them as he snarled “and in case you can’t count, you being here makes four.”

Frost smiled sweetly at him, “Oh I can count just fine Reverb, see look,” she held up her index finger, “that’s one, as in the one you owe me for saving your ass when that little girl beat you with a frying pan, I’m sure you remember don’t you?”

“Oh please, I had my own back bitch,” Francisco scoffed, “I don’t owe you shit, if anything you owe me for not blasting you to bits already, after all it’s not very wise to antagonize your superiors.”

At this Frost’s composure cracked, “The only superior you are Reverb is superior at being a little bitch,” she stepped towards him, icicle forming in one hand as Deathstorm put a hand on her shoulder to hold her back.

“As charming as this cat fight is,” Amy chimed in, turning all of their eyes on her, “I was under the impression we would be working tonight? Unless you two would rather growl and hiss at each other, then by all means continue, I happen to have better things to do though.”

Francisco said nothing, his expression changing to one of confusion under his vibe glasses. Frost on the other hand turned her venom to it’s next target, “You want a cat fight? Cuz I’ll be happy to oblige if you wanna keep running your mouth,”

Amy stepped froward, ignoring the warning look she caught glimpse of on Francisco’s face, “What I want Frosty is for you to either help us with this mission or stop wasting out time and scram,”

“And what if I choose a third option and give you something to remember me by?” in a blink the hand Frost held the icicle in shot forward, it’s trajectory aimed to jam the icicle up between Amy’s ribs; but Amy was faster than her, and before Francisco could even lift his hands to blast Frost away, Amy had both of her hands clapped around Frost’s, the icicle shattering in a blast of red energy and crumbling out of her hand. 

Frost stood perfectly still, staring at her hand trapped between Amy’s as both Francisco and Deathstorm stared between them. “I think you’ll find you have better odds with the options I gave you,” Amy said as she dropped Frost’s hand, “but you can be sure I’ll remember you anyway doll, you’ve got one of those faces,” Amy threw in a wink for good measure before stepping back to Francisco’s side and asking, “so what’s it gonna be, help or fuck off?”

Frost remained frozen in place for a few more seconds, her eyes now fixed on Amy’s face in contemplation. “I suppose I could help you,” she finally decided, taking a step back and shrugging, “I really am bored after all,” 

“You are not requi-” Francisco started to say, but Amy put her hand up in front of his face, bringing him to an indignant silence.

“What’s so bad about an extra set of powers?” Amy asked glancing over at him, “besides, I wanna see if she’s all you said she’d be,”

At this both Frost and Deathstorm gave Francisco a curious look, “And what exactly am I supposed to be?” Frost asked narrowing her eyes at Francisco.

“Well I’m not gonna lie, the term frigid bitch was used more than once,” Amy replied, earning an amused chuckle from Francisco, “but after that, he said you were quite the nasty piece of work in combat, and if I’m honest with you,” Amy smirked at her as she leaned forward to whisper, “I don’t see it,” she nodded over her form, and Frost scowled back angrily.

“You wanna see nasty?” Frost asked in an icy whisper, “I’ll show you nasty,” she straightened up and cracked her neck with a loud snap, “lets get to work shall we?” she looked pointedly at Francisco who seemed to roll his eyes before heading off towards the nearby ship yard.

Deathstorm grinned like a kid at Christmas, looking between Amy and Frost, “Oh this is gonna be awesome,” he said, “have fun babe.”

Frost smiled back at him, “Oh I will, don’t you worry,” she replied before looking back at Amy, “may the best woman win little Star, try not to slip on the ice,” she turned to saunter off after Francisco, and Amy just shook her head and followed after them both.

 

One Hour Later…

“Ok alright I’ll do whatever you want! Just please stop!” the meta they were targeting cowered before them, all four of them in a circle surrounding him.

“I don’t know, I’m having an awful lot of fun,” Frost said with a wicked grin.

“Stand down Frost, that’s an order,” Francisco barked without looking over at her, “Zoom wants him alive and functional, not a meta popsicle.”

Frost pouted but did as she was told, then she glance up at Amy across from her and asked “Nasty enough for you newbie?” her blue lips curled up in a sneer.

“Quite,” Amy replied in a clipped tone. Frost looked vaguely annoyed by her response but said nothing, crossing her arms over her chest as she waited for orders.

The encounter had been a mess from the beginning, the meta they were after running scared at first sight of them. Amy thought she was prepared, thought she could handle what she was going to have to do, the part she would have to play, but she had been wrong. The meta was just a kid, a boy maybe fifteen years old, his clothes ripped and dirty, he was obviously living on the street. The image of his face when he realized just who they were burned in the back of Amy’s mind, turning her stomach every time she closed her eyes. His eyes were hazel green, and the horror they held in them just before he took off running was like a knife to Amy’s heart. He reminded her of Bambi, small scared and alone, begging them to stop as he trembled on his knees, twitching at the slightest move any of them made.

Frost had been the first to chase him, as soon as he bolted she broke into a run after him, her heels clacking against the cement as she sent a blast of ice after him. She’d taken Amy’s challenge to heart, tailing the kid like a cheetah after it’s prey, relentless in her attacks until he’d finally slipped up on a patch of her ice and skid to a stop, covering his head as he expected another attack to rain down on him. Amy had done all she needed to without actually hurting the boy, working the sidelines as she helped to corner him, shooting red energy blasts just past him as a scare tactic. She hoped it had been a convincing performance, her fists clenched at her sides to stop her hands from shaking. 

“You’re coming with us kid,” Francisco told him, removing his glasses as he looked down at his tear streaked face.

“Please….I don’t want to hurt anyone...I don’t even want these powers! I just...I wanna go home!” the boy begged, looking down at his hands as though they were two primed grenades, “please just let me go home, I won’t get in your way, I won’t even use my powers-”

“See that’s the problem kid,” Francisco crouched down to be at eye level with him, “Zoom wants you to use your powers, they’re what’s important,” he gestured around at Amy and the others, “we’d all be useless without our powers, and so would you, besides,” he smirked making the boy flinch back from him, “Zoom knows where you live, or at least where you used to live anyway. He knows your mom and dad tossed you out because you’re a freak, but we’re freaks to; so in the end, coming with us is really your best option,”

“Jesus, you sound like a damn after school special,” Frost groaned, rolling her eyes.

“One more word out of you Frost and I will send you to the hottest dimension I can find and watch as you melt, not shut it,” Francisco snapped. Frost looked as though she were ready to throttle him, but Deathstorm held her back.

“Come on kid be smart here,” Francisco tried again, “your no good to anyone dead, and that’s what you’re gonna be if you don’t cooperate.”

Still the boy trembled, his eyes darting around looking for something, an escape, someone to help, anything really. “I don’t want to hurt people...” he whispered, his voice shaking as bad as his body.

Amy couldn’t take anymore, watching the boy tremble in fear was all too much, “You’re not a martyr if you die tonight kid, don’t be stupid,” the boy looked up at her, blinking away tears from those bright hazel green eyes of his, those eyes that looked so much like Barry’s, “don’t be stupid,” she repeated, “we’re on the same side.” 

The boy blinked up at her a few times more, his fear seeming to ease slightly as he met her eyes. He swallowed thickly, his tremors coming to a slow stop as he nodded, “Ok...I’ll go with you,” he said, his eyes never leaving Amy’s face.

“Good,” Francisco said, grabbing his arm and hauling him up, “Deathstorm, you take him to Zoom, make sure he behaves himself and learns his place,” he shoved the kid towards Ronnie’s double and added, “and take your girlfriend with you, I’m tired of listening to her mouth.”

“B-but, I thought-” The kid pointed at Amy, but Deathstorm gripped his arm tight and hissed in his ear.

“Zip it kid, you already agreed now you’re coming with us,” he hoisted the kid up on his shoulder easily before nodding to Frost, “lets go.”

“Right behind you babe,” Frost called to him as he started off. She turned to Amy with one final smirk, “Well aren’t you a charmer,” she said snarkily, “that kid looked about ready to start calling you mommy.”

Amy shrugged, avoiding her gaze, “Or maybe he just realized the odds weren’t in his favor,” she replied, “either way he’s more useful this way,” 

Frost opened her mouth to say something else, but Francisco stepped forward and shut her up, “What part of I’m tired of listening to your mouth didn’t you understand Frost?” he asked angrily.

Frost scowled at him, “Oh go fuck yourself,” she sniped, smirking as she added, “shouldn’t be too hard with those vibration powers of yours.” She let out a vicious little cackle as she turned to leave, “nice meeting you Red Star, see ya around!” she called with a wave before she went to catch up with Deathstorm.

Francisco waited until they were out of sight before he turned to Amy, “You alright?” he asked stiffly, not wanting to show too much affection out in the open as the were.

Amy looked over at him, a queasy smile on her face, “Relatively,” she replied quietly.

Francisco nodded, “Lets get home then, our work here is done.”

Amy nodded as well, following him silently to their apartment. When they got inside Amy didn’t stop to let him embrace her like he tried to do, didn’t stop to answer Dante when he asked her what was wrong; she just made a silent bee line for the bathroom, locking herself inside before falling to her knees in front of the toilet and emptying her stomach. She stayed there for an hour or two, curled into a ball on the floor as she willed the image of the boy’s face from her mind, telling herself over and over in a desperate whisper, “You saved his life tonight, you kept him alive and thats a good thing,” hoping that if she said it enough times, she might actually start to believe it were true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr: formerly-makingstarsshine.tumblr.com   
> Also visit my side blog: cisco-fics-4-all.tumblr.com


	28. Chapter 28

“Dude they are literally, holding a rally in your honor ok? Remember that time, you saved the city from a giant black hole in the sky? You have to go!” Cisco argued with Barry as he patched a hole in the Flash suit, “They wanna give you a key and everything, the least you could do is show up.”

Barry sat in a nearby chair shaking his head, “They’re holding a rally for who they think The Flash is, and that guy is not me Cisco, I’m Barry Allen, forensic specialist for the CCPD, The Flash is…” he shook his head again, leaving his sentence unfinished.

Cisco set his tools down pointedly and looked over at him with expectant eyes, “The Flash is what? Because if the next three words you were gonna say were ‘not a hero’, I’m gonna have to punch you in the face, and we both know that would hurt me more than you so-”

Barry chuckled at that, “You’d have to catch me first,” he replied earning a squint from Cisco.

“Touché,” Cisco conceded, “but still, I’m gonna need you to shut up about this ‘I’m not a hero’ crap, because for one its crap like I said, and for two it’s crap,”

“Wow reasons one and two sound a lot a like,” Barry noted raising an eyebrow at him.

“That’s because they are,” Cisco replied with a smile, “you know why? Cuz it’s double crap, crap squared, two craps one excuse,” he lifted his tools once more, “I could go on for hours, but I think you get my point, yeah?”

Barry laughed and nodded, “Yeah buddy, I get your point,” he said leaning back in his seat before adding softly, “it doesn’t change my opinion though.”

Cisco grumbled, rolling his eyes as he put the final stitch into the suit, “I swear to god Barry, if you weren’t my best friend, I would hate you so much.” he put his tools away in his desk drawer and turned to face Barry, standing as he began to lecture him. “When we first started this whole thing, waaaay back when you first got out of the coma, there was no stopping you, it was nothing but heroics with you, running around all over doing good deeds because you wanted to help people; and you did, you helped a lot of people Barry, like A LOT. Now it’s nothing but self deprecation and regret with you, and I know some of what you’re feeling is totally warranted,” he’d steadily moved step by step until he was stood in front of Barry, looking down into his face with a serious gaze, “but Barry, you’ve gotta know that not all of your success is because of Wells.”

Barry had been looking up at Cisco with a hint of a smile on his face, knowing that his friend’s lecturing was the product of their mutual affection, but at the mention of Wells, the hint of a smile vanished, replaced by a hardened expression that Cisco had grown all to familiar with, “I don’t want to talk about it,” Barry said simply, shrugging his shoulders a little before crossing his arms over his chest like a child.

Cisco sighed, knowing that at this point Barry wouldn’t listen to him even if he forced the conversation further, so instead he put his hands up in mock surrender, “Fine, you win, we won’t talk about it,” he agreed, taking a step backwards, “but will you at least promise to consider going to the rally?”

Barry’s expression didn’t soften as he looked up at Cisco and asked, “Will it get you to stop talking about it?” Cisco nodded, making an X over his heart as he did so, “then yes, I will consider it,” Barry agreed, “but I’m probably still going to decide not to go, so don’t get your hopes up.”

Cisco rolled his eyes and nodded again, “Yeah yeah, I know,” he acknowledged, “but there is one thing that I know you’ll say yes to,” he grinned, pointing a finger gun at Barry.

“Whats that?” Barry asked, out of genuine curiosity.

“Big Belly burger,” Cisco replied victoriously, Barry finally cracking a smile in defeat, “boom, I found your weakness,” Cisco laughed triumphantly.

Barry shook his head, “Yeah whatever, you’re just lucky I have a ridiculous metabolism,” Barry defended as he got to his feet, “what do you want me to get you?”

“Aww babe you know what I like,” Cisco teased as he turned back to his desk.

Barry rolled his eyes, “Always sweet talking me when you want something,” he quipped back making Cisco snicker, “I’ll be right back,”

“Wait!” Cisco cried just as Barry got ready to speed off.

“What, what is it?” Barry asked with a confused frown. Cisco marched up to him and gave him a light slap on the cheek that stung just enough to make Barry flinch backwards, “what the hell dude?”

“I figured that was safer than actually trying to punch you,” Cisco shrugged, “I kinda need my hands for work and stuff” he wiggled his fingers at him for emphasis.

Barry squinted at him for a moment, “You know what, just for that, you’re buying lunch,” he said before speeding off at the look of horror on Cisco face.

“Barry wait no! YOU’RE NOT A CHEAP DATE!” Cisco called after him, but he was already gone. He sighed moving back to his desk as he muttered, “whatever, you deserved it.” He lifted the suit in his hands and approached the mannequin it went on, carefully putting it back on the white plastic form, a contented smile on his face as he worked. It was nice, being able to talk with Barry like he used to; it had taken a while after the team broke up for Barry to stop shutting him out, even after he’d yelled at him for it. Barry was just the protective type it seemed, and despite his best efforts to keep the team away, Cisco, Joe, and Iris were determined to stay as close as possible to him, and in the end they wore him down. Cisco couldn’t deny it was nice to have his best friend back, or at least…it was nice to hang out with his second best friend without the constant thoughts of Amy running in the background, reminding him that Barry was always second to her. He paused in zipping a sleeve into place as he thought about her, realizing he hadn’t thought about her for the better part of the week and wondering when he’d started forgetting to think about her all the time.

No, that wasn’t he right word for it. Forgetting wasn’t what he was doing, he was just “Moving on...” he said to himself quietly, “that’s what it is, I’m moving on,” he felt suddenly sick to his stomach, thinking that if he moved on he might actually start forgetting about her, like he had to keep thinking about her or she’d be lost to his memories forever and ever, but the feeling passed almost as soon as it came, and he shook his head chastising himself. He wouldn’t forget her, how could he? Her picture was still up in his apartment, and everyone else still remembered her and thought about her. No he wouldn’t forget her, but he would move on. After all, Amy would want him to.


	29. Chapter 29

“Well look what we have here,” Killer Frost said with a wicked little grin, “you work fast, don’t you sparkles?”

“Don’t call me that,” Amy replied gruffly, shoving their latest target onto her knees between them. This one was a woman, the same age as Amy according to the information they’d been given, her ability was more of a defensive one, with the ability to create a forcefield that was somewhat explosive to the touch. But Amy had taken her down easily, distracting her focus until she could strike from behind. She’d gotten very good at her new job, taking targets down with a silent efficiency that began to earn her a reputation among the rest of Zoom’s ranks, some even whispering she was colder than Killer Frost and twice as dangerous. 

Frost shrugged, her grin staying in place, “Whatever you say Star,” she replied before fixing her gaze on the target, “you’ve gave us quite the run around, more trouble than you’re worth if you ask me,”

“Well then it’s a good thing nobody asked you,” Reverb cut in as he approached, ignoring Frost’s grumbled remarks as he addressed the target, “Hmm, Sarah is it? Here’s the deal, you either join up or we take you out, those are your only two options, so which is it gonna be?”

Sarah looked up at the three of them with hard eyes, her mouth fixed in a line as she took them all in for a moment, then she looked straight ahead, squaring her shoulders as she said, “I’m not joining up with a psychopath who thinks its ok to terrorize an entire city because he got powers, you’re going to have to kill me.”

“Fine by me honey,” Frost replied, forming a sharp icicle in her hand before Reverb waved her off.

“Think about this for a minute,” he said quietly, “you’d rather let your powers go to waste than join with someone who wants to see them meet their full potential?”

“I’d rather let my powers go to waste than put them in the hands of someone who’s gonna use them to hurt people!” Sarah spat back, “look at you three, you were all three given these gifts of yours and what do you do with them? You waste them on violence and crime when you could do so much more,” she looked up at them one by one looking them in the eyes, “you all should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Frost clenched her hand around the icicle she still held, “Can I kill her now?”

But Amy beat her to the punch so to speak, without warning (or maybe just without Reverb noticing the slow steady clenching of her jaw at Sarah’s words), Amy’s hand glowed red as her fist came down against the back of Sarah’s head with a loud thwack. 

“Hey!” Frost whined dropping her icicle, “I wanted to do that!”

“You can have the next one,” Amy snapped before looking to Reverb, “she said no, we’re done here,” she turned to leave before he could respond and for a moment he just stared after her in horrified confusion.

“She’s right,” he said, coming vaguely to his senses as he addressed Frost, “we are done here, get to Zoom, tell him-”

“I’m not telling him anything,” Frost cut him off, “he’s getting tired of you sending Firestorm and I, he wants a face to face with you, so you go tell him what happened here tonight,” she looked down at Sarah’s body with disdain, “if you’re nice I might do something with the body...”

Reverb narrowed his eyes at her, but he’d known this was coming, “Fine, I’ll go to Zoom,” he agreed with a growl, “now please,” he said the words with an overly forced sweetness, “do something with this?” 

“There’s a good boy,” Frost cooed with a wicked grin, “I’ll take care of it, you go track down your girlfriend,” she pulled out her phone, but added as Reverb turned away, “oh, and tell her she doesn’t get to have all the fun next time.”

Reverb nodded curtly, “Whatever,” he called back, he didn’t give a shit really, he needed to catch up to Amy and she’d already gotten out of sight. He got a good distance, looking left and right for her before cursing under his breath and reaching for the charm around his wrist. His eyes closed as he let the vibe take him, concentrating on Amy what he could see of her surroundings. She wasn’t moving which was good, she’d stopped somewhere...she was waiting for him. He sighed with relief as he came out of it, walking briskly to the corner of the next block, where Amy stood waiting for him.

“What’s with the running off?” he asked as he stopped beside her, “you had me worried for a second, I don’t like losing you, you know that-”

“I stopped didn’t I?” she sounded irritated, like a teenager being scolded.  
Francisco frowned at her, “Yes you did, thank you, but I’m not trying to lecture you Amy, I was just worr-”

“We shouldn’t be having this conversation out in the open,” she cut him off again making him flinch “I want to go home anyway, I’m tired.”

Francisco stared at her for a moment, every fiber of him vibrating in warning, “Fine,” he said quietly, moving past her, “home.” He felt Amy fall in step just behind him, saw in his periphery that she kept her eyes fixed downward, her shoulders tense and her hands clenched together in front of her. Something was wrong, but Amy was right they shouldn’t talk about such things in the open, no matter how much it pained him not to ask, not to draw her into his arms until he felt her tension pass and she told him what was wrong. He felt a familiar prickling fear crawling within him, the one that whispered to him that he had broken her, made her everything he never wanted her to be. It clawed at his chest and slithered up his back, hissing in his ear ‘you’ve finally done it, you killed her light, you ruined her just like you ruin everything...’ but he fought it, silently cursed the little voice and focused on the feeling of his feet falling one after the other upon the sidewalk; It would be alright once they were home.

\------ ------------ ---------- -------------- ------------ -------------- -----

He was wrong.

Once they stepped through the door to their apartment, Francisco turned to pull her close, but she evaded him and walked briskly away, towards their bedroom with only a muttered “I need a shower” as explanation. There was a slight tightening in his chest, but he let it pass, let her walk away telling himself she would speak to him after she was finished. This pain was manageable, a dull ache in his head as he resolved himself to wait, but as he entered the living room to find a confused looking Dante standing in the kitchen doorway with a bowl of cereal, the dull ache surged and morphed into the beginnings of a migraine.

“What happened?” Dante asked, forming the words around a mouthful of cereal, his eyes flicking from Francisco’s face to the hall.

“None of your business,” Francisco snapped, shrugging off his jacket and hanging it up, “what are you doing up so late anyway, don’t you work in the morning?”

“Tomorrow is my day off,” Dante replied with a small smile, “you probably don’t have those being a crime boss or whatever, but us working class bums do,” he hoped his comment would make his brother smile, but Francisco’s scowl stayed firmly in place, “are you guys hungry, I could make something-”

“Or you could go to your room and stop asking so many fucking questions!” Francisco practically roared at him.

Dante paused for a moment at that, then his eyes narrowed thoughtfully at his brother and he set his cereal bowl down. “Look Francisco, I understand if you don’t want to talk to me about your problems, you never have, but I think it might be time that you stop treating me like dirt, ok?” he crossed towards Francisco, drawn up to his full height his eyes focused on him but gentle, “I am your brother, and whether you like it or not I am Amy’s friend, so you can snap at me all you like mijo, but when you’re done playing tough I’ll be here, and I just might be able to help you….if you’re nice” he smirked at his brother, using his half inch height difference for all it was worth.

Francisco glared up at him, closing the small distance between them “You wanna give advice Dante?” he asked in a low dangerous tone, “Well then let me give some advice to you,” he raised his hand and placed it lightly on Dante’s chest, “don’t get in my face when I’m in a bad mood,” he pushed a vibration through Dante’s chest that sent him stumbling several steps back, gasping as the air was knocked out of him.

It took a moment for Dante to get his bearings, but when he did he laughed, rubbing a hand over his chest in surprise “Well thats one thing that hasn’t changed,” he said, moving back to his cereal still chuckling, “you still pull your punches when you know you’re in the wrong.”

Francisco rolled his eyes and headed towards his bedroom, “Or maybe I didn’t want to have to deal with the mess of hiding your body, either way you can go fuck yourself and leave me alone.” He could hear Dante chuckling behind him, and couldn’t suppress the wave of anger it shot through him. He slammed the door to his room shut and growled, kicking the foot of the bed and punching the mattress in frustration. Dante was the last person he needed right now, all well meaning and intrusive. Francisco barely had an idea what was wrong himself, let alone with Dante asking questions and making suggestions on how to fix things. He learned from his mistakes, corrected them on his own, fixed things on his own, he didn’t need anyone to tell him how to live his own life!

He paused at that thought, the anger in his dissipating as it made room for a frustrated fear. It wasn’t his life anymore, it was theirs, his and Amy’s. He clenched his fists against his instincts, the ones he’d gained when his powers first took hold that told him he was better off alone, they were no longer needed...right? The slithering crawling voice came back then, hissing in his ears once more ‘if you weren’t with her she wouldn’t be upset, she wouldn’t have reason to be...she wouldn’t be what you’ve made her...’

“No,” Francisco whispered back, “you’re wrong.” 

“Who is wrong?” Francisco’s eyes snapped up to see Amy, wrapped in a dark blue towel as she gave him a curious look.

For a moment he didn’t have the words to respond to her, his throat feeling tight as he looked at her. She was beautiful to him even now, hair dripping, forehead creased as she frowned at him, no anger in her eyes, no sadness just her, standing there looking at him. “Nobody,” he finally replied, a soft smile on his face, “I was just thinking out loud.”

Amy’s frown remained for a moment, as if she were deciding if she believed him or not, then she shrugged and turned to their dresser, “Sorry to interrupt,” she said, fishing out a pair of underwear and a shirt, “I’ll be gone in a minute, so you can go back to thinking.” 

“Don’t,” Francisco said stepping towards her.

Amy dropped her towel and pulled on the shirt she’d picked out, one of his, a black one with a picture of David Bowie smoking across the front, “Don’t what?” she asked kicking the towel aside to put on her underwear.

Francisco moved closer, putting his hands on her sides when she straightened out, her eyes lifting to meet his, an almost timid look on her face, “Don’t go,” he clarified softly, “please just...stay here with me. We can talk or not talk, whatever you want just,” he lifted his hands from her sides to cup her face, “stay close to me?”

Amy frowned again but not in confusion, it held too much care and just a touch of sadness, “Alright,” she nodded, taking his hands from her face and holding them to her chest, “I’ll stay,” she smoothed one hand down the side of his neck, “I’ll always stay with you Francisco.”

Francisco closed his eyes and nodded at her words, pulling her close. He believed that she would stay with him, for however long always would be for them; but no matter how tight he held on to her, and no matter how much he believed her words, that slithering gnawing voice kept quietly hissing ‘you should have let her go when she left you the first time...’


	30. Chapter 30

“Don’t fucking touch me!”

 

Francisco froze in place, his heart racing in his chest as bile threatened to force it’s way out of his throat. Amy stood before him, fuming so hard her entire body was trembling with rage.

 

“Amy-” he tried but before her name started on his lips she had raised her hands, a ball of red light in each one as she poised herself to attack.

 

“You knew!” She screamed at him, throwing one at him, striking him in the shoulder, “you knew that Zoom had her as a target and you lied to me!” she threw the other one, this time narrowly missing as he leapt out of the way though it had clearly been aimed for his chest.

 

“I did not lie to you!” he replied desperately, clutching at his shoulder as he cowered behind the couch “I just didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to be upset-”

 

“Upset?!” Amy asked incredulously, “Oh believe me, I am far from upset Francisco, I am furious!” She charged him, jumping up on the coffee table and throwing herself at him over the couch. She landed against the back, knocking the whole thing over and pinning him beneath it, “she is an innocent girl! And you allowed her to be kidnapped by a murderous psychopath! You physically prevented me from having any chance to save her!” Amy beat at his chest with balled up fists, tears blurring her vision as she struck him. Francisco blocked her blows as best he could while he tried to kick the sofa off of his leg.

 

“Zoom would have killed you if I hadn’t been there!” he defended, but he knew Amy wasn’t listening, she wasn’t even really hitting him anymore, her arms were growing weaker with every strike, her breath coming in sharp angry sobs until she finally exhausted herself and flopped over beside him, her body shaking as she continued to cry. Francisco shoved the sofa off of his leg and immediately turned to comfort her, but his instincts were paused by the memory of her screaming for him not to touch her. Instead, he sat back and watched, every fiber of him screaming that this was wrong, this wasn’t supposed to happen, he’d saved her life, how could she hate him for it?

 

“She’s just an innocent little girl…how could you let this happen?” Amy’s voice was little more than a whimper, a hand over her face as she took in shuddering breaths. She had been so close to saving her, so close to doing something, anything to keep her from Zoom’s clutches, and the only thing that had stood in her way had been Francisco. She wanted to scream, to cry, to be sick or jump out a window, anything to stop the fire burning in her brain. Francisco knew she would be upset, knew the kindness she had shown her, knew that she didn’t deserve to pay the price for whatever crimes Zoom had imagined her father to have committed and yet…. He had stood by and watched as Jessie had been taken, without even thinking of helping her escape.

 

————- —————— ————- ————– ——————–

 

Two hours previous…

 

“We’re going to be working with someone new today,” Francisco explained as he shrugged on his leather jacket, “she goes by Black Siren, she’s one of Zoom’s top level metas so its best if we don’t interact like a couple very much,” he stood and watched as Amy sipped her own jacket the rest of the way, making a last check of her uniform before meeting his gaze. “You understand what I mean, don’t you? Why I’m saying we shouldn’t -”

 

“Because Zoom could use it against us, yes I know,” Amy replied with a nod, “why are we working with this Black Siren woman and not Frost or Firestorm?”

 

Francisco shrugged, “Zoom’s orders, he wants to make sure this job is done perfectly because the target is someone important, that’s why he’s sending in his best people.”

 

Amy frowned at that, tilting her head to the side, “There’s gonna be more new people than just Siren?” she asked, to which Francisco shook his head and smirked.

 

“No darling, I meant us,” he gestured between them, “you, me, and Siren, we’re the best he’s got.”

 

“Oh,” Amy replied with a thoughtful nod, her frown deepening just a little. Then she glanced towards the door, “well, shall we head out?” she asked, already moving towards the door when Francisco caught her arm.

 

She stopped, looking down at the floor anxiously, and Francisco knew exactly what was bothering her. “I know you don’t like the idea of being at the top of the bad guy food chain,” he said in a soft voice, “but it’s better than being at the bottom, and it’s safer.”

 

“Safer for me,” Amy agreed, “but not for the people I have to hurt to keep that safety,” she looked up then, looking Francisco in the eyes as she added, “I knew the price when I signed up, I just didn’t realize how often I’d be paying.”

 

Francisco held her gaze for a few moments, silently taking in her words. “If it helps,” he said finally, moving in close to her so that he could take her hands in his, “don’t think of it as payment, think of it as training,” he lifted their hands between them, palm to palm atop each other as always, “training that you have excelled at, and that has made you so much stronger than before.”

 

Amy looked down at their hands, her brow creased in thought as her fingers curled up against his wrist, “I appreciate the attempt Francisco,” she whispered, looking back up at him with a sadness in her eyes that made him feel slightly sick, “but I can’t pretend what I’m doing is anything other than what it is.”

 

‘And it’s your fault she’s doing it to begin with’ the vile little voice hissed to him, just like it had a few nights ago after Amy’s outburst, just like it had in the beginning.

 

“Alright,” he said with a nod, “I’m sorry it has to be that way,” he withdrew his hands from hers and squared his shoulders, “lets get this done then.” He opened the door and they left, Amy following beside him, her face an impassive mask like his, though inside he felt absolutely deplorable.

 

They reached the meet up destination within an hour, Amy only slightly surprised to find Black Siren was Laurel’s doppelganger. “Well well, this must be the Red Star I’ve heard so much about,” Siren smiled at her wickedly, “glad to see another woman at the top.”

 

“I can’t imagine you being glad to see anyone close to power besides yourself Siren,” Francisco commented slyly before Amy could respond.

 

Siren turned her wicked smile to him and winked, “I can appreciate a fellow meta’s climb, so long as they’re always below me everything is just peachy.”

 

Francisco chuckled at h”er reply, but Amy wasn’t up for villainous pleasantries, “Where is the target?” she asked bluntly, earning a squint from Siren.

 

“Not much of a talker I guess,” Siren observed with a raised brow, “fair enough, the target is at the college down the block, her schedule says she’s in between classes right now which means she’s probably in the courtyard having lunch,” Siren pulled a small card out of the top of her corset like uniform and handed it to Francisco, a schedule scribbled on it in blue ink, “the plan is, we move in, snatch her while she’s outside and give her to Zoom, alive and preferably unharmed.”

 

Francisco nodded his understanding, Amy following suit though apprehensive about attacking a school. “Which one of us is doing the grabbing?” Francisco asked handing Siren back the schedule.

 

“I am,” Siren replied, tucking the schedule away, “you and Red are going to box her in, I’ll scream the surrounding buildings down so she has nowhere to run while one or the both of you knocks her out and then I grab her and go, understood?”

 

“Box her in and knock her out,” Amy nodded, “got it.”

 

Siren smiled at her again, “Good, I was worried you’d be a bad listener.”

 

“Bad listeners don’t come close to power though, do they?” Amy shot back cooly, Siren chuckling in response.

 

“Sorry to cut into your girl talk ladies,” Francisco cut in, “but we are on a schedule.”

 

Siren smirked at Amy one last time before giving Francisco a nod, “Alright then Reverb, lets get this show on the road.”

 

The college was filled with students when they arrived, some of them recognizing the trio as they entered and bolting like frightened deer. With every step towards their target’s destination, Amy could feel her stomach twisting into tighter and tighter knots. This was a school, filled with young people earning their degrees, furthering their education, innocent people every one of them. They didn’t deserve to be hurt if they were caught in the crossfire, but if Amy tried to warn them then her cover would be blown, and she couldn’t afford to let that happen. The courtyard was in the middle of the campus, surrounded by buildings on all sides, glass windows all around to like a giant terrarium. Siren stopped just on the other side of one of those windows, gazing out at the students with a calculating eye, searching for the one they were after. Two or three passes over the courtyard and she smiled viciously, “Bingo,” she said almost gleefully, pointing, “that’s her over there, black pants, white shirt, short hair,” Francisco and Amy followed her finger, eyes landing on a table with five girls sat together, but only one of them fit the description provided.

 

“Jessie Wells?” Francisco asked, his eyes fixed on the girl, watching as her and her friends began to realize they were being watched. Beside him he could feel Amy go rigid and heard her small gasp. There was no way this would end well.

 

“Top of the class Reverb,” Siren confirmed, “now stand back and watch the Siren scream.”

 

He did as he was told, putting an arm out to shove Amy back as well, knowing what was about to happen. Siren let out a screech that exploded the window in front of them, and every other window in the courtyard, the students within covering their ears and cowering in the wake of the sound. Siren’s cry also thankfully drowned out Amy’s, a strangled cry of “No!” tearing from her throat as Francisco held her back. He had only mere seconds to act, grabbing hold of Amy’s face while Siren was distracted, he kissed her as fiercely as he could, hoping that it would convey his sincere apology that he could not say in words. Amy in her confusion and distress shoved at him, struggling to break from his grip so that she could go to Jessie, to save her somehow; but Francisco held fast to her, his hands moving from her cheeks over her temples before sending a gentle but effective blast of vibration through her skull. Amy went limp in an instant, blood trickling from her nose at the concussive force of the blast.

 

Siren turned back as her cry ended, scowling at Amy’s unconscious body on the floor, “What the hell happened?!” she demanded, Francisco turning to her with a shrug.

 

“She didn’t move back when you said to, your scream knocked her out” he explained flatly.

 

Siren growled in frustration, “Stupid bitch, I knew she was a bad listener!” she advanced on Amy, looking ready to screech again to finish her off.

 

“It doesn’t matter right now, we have a job to do,” Francisco reminded her, “ I can knock her out without the assist, you get to screaming.”

 

Siren glared at him for a moment, debating whether the job was more important than punishing Amy. In the end she nodded, “Hit her hard enough to keep her out for a while, the last thing I need is her waking up and whining en-route,” she started to turn back towards the courtyard but stopped to add, “Oh, and you’re responsible for your useless little friend, if she gets caught and squeals I’m telling Zoom it’s your fault.”

 

Francisco clenched his jaw and nodded, “Fine, now scream,” he growled at her, and scream she did. When it was all over, the courtyard was a pile of rubble, Siren had claimed her prize and Francisco had opened a breach to send her to Zoom’s lair.

 

Amy was out the whole time, even as Francisco opened another breach to their apartment and carried her through it, even as he laid her out on the sofa and listened to Dante’s incessant questioning of what happened and whether she was alright. Francisco ignored him, ignored the pain in his own body from being struck by stray bits of rubble as Siren shook buildings apart, he only cared if Amy was alright, worrying more with every second she stayed asleep that he may have hit her too hard. When she finally came to, he felt a wave of relief wash over him, feeling as though he’d suddenly remembered how to breathe. He’d pulled her into his arms at once, whispering his apologies as he kissed her head over and over, hugging her to him as he began to explain what had happened; and that’s when Amy had first struck. He felt the hands against his chest shoving him before he registered what was happening, Amy practically throwing him away from her as she scrambled off the couch and away from him. He had reached out to her, trying to explain why he’d had to do what he’d done, and that’s when she’d said it, a look of such dangerous anger in her eyes that it frightened him.

 

“Don’t fucking touch me!”

 

————— ——————— —————- ————– —————–

Present time…

 

“What the hell is going on out-” Dante, who had skulked back to his room after his brother’s silent treatment now came bursting through the door, his eyes widening at the scene before him.

 

Francisco turned to look at him, his heart beating so hard he was starting to struggle to breathe, “I- I thought…I thought I was doing the right thing…” he managed to get out, looking back at Amy’s weeping trembling form.

 

Dante stared at them both a few moments more, his eyes returning to their normal size before he slowly went to Amy’s side. “Amy,” he said her name soft and sweet, putting a soothing hand on her back, “Amy, come on mi querida, it’s alright, it’s me, it’s Dante,” he spoke to her in soft slow words stroking her back until she uncurled from herself and crawled into his arms. “Shh…shhh, it’s alright now, it’s ok preciosa, I’m here, just calm down and breathe for me ok?” he cradled her against him, rubbing her back slowly. After a few moments of this he glanced over to his brother, “Francisco I think you should go,” he said softly, something akin to disappointment in his eyes as he looked at him.

 

Francisco blinked at him, his brain struggling with the suggestion, “Go?” he asked after a minute, “go where? This is my fucking apartment Dante, I-”

 

“Then go to your room,” Dante cut him off quickly, “just go, alright.”

 

Francisco stared at him for another moment, his face contorting into a scowl as he began to protest, “I am not going to be sent to my room by you, you fucking-”

 

But at that Dante snapped, “Goddammit Francisco, I don’t give a fuck where you go or what you do, but get the fuck out of here and away from Amy until she can calm down and decide for herself if she wants to be around you, you selfish little shit! NOW GO!”

 

His voice vibrated through Francisco like a clap of thunder, the blazing fierceness in Dante’s eyes making him flinch back from him. Francisco knew he could take Dante in a fight, after all Dante didn’t have powers, but a voice in his head told him to listen to his brother and go, to leave Amy alone because he had done wrong. He stood up, taking one last look at Amy cradled in Dante’s arms before turning and walking away, down the hallway to their bedroom where he closed the door behind him. He began shaking, fear and anger and confusion warring inside him furiously. What had he done? Amy was right, Jessie was just and innocent girl, she didn’t deserve what she was suffering under now, none of them did, not a single one of their targets ever deserved what was done to them. But not following orders ended in death, so what choice did they have other than to obey? He’d saved Amy’s life today, kept her from not following orders, and in exchange he’d sent an innocent intelligent young girl to be tormented by Zoom as a pawn against her father. He fell against the bed, his knees buckling as the voice in his head kept repeating one thing, one question over and over again. It wasn’t the slithering crawling voice, or even his own that asked the same question endlessly in his brain, no… it was Amy’s voice. It was the sound of her voice as she lay weeping on the floor minutes ago, asking one question he couldn’t find the right answer to:

 

‘How could you let this happen?’


	31. Chapter 31

Amy wasn’t sure when she stopped crying, she only noticed she’d stopped because she could hear Dante humming softly where as before her own shuddering breaths had drowned him out. She could also feel him humming, her head tucked under his chin and body curled close to his chest, the song seemed to rumble through him into her, calming her like an infant hearing it’s mother’s heartbeat. She was still upset, still hurt to the core by what had happened, what Francisco had done, but it was duller now. The pain was still there, ready bloom back to it’s originally consuming state at the slightest provocation, but held there in Dante’s arms as she was, it had quieted to a dull roar in her mind. She sat and listened a few minutes more to Dante’s humming, the song sounding familiar to her ears though her emotionally exhausted mind couldn’t place it’s name. When he reached the end of the song, she decided to ask him, “What song was that?” her voice hoarse and weak from crying.

 

Dante hugged her a little tighter after she spoke, rubbing his hand up and down her arm briefly as he replied “Lacrimosa, it’s by Mozart, I uh…it was the first song I ever memorized when I learned to play piano, my mother used to hum it to me as a lullaby, I thought it might help you to calm down…”

 

Amy nodded against his chest, “I thought it sounded familiar,” she conceded. She shifted slightly, debating whether she ought to move now that she was done crying, after all Dante must be pretty uncomfortable sat on the floor like this, but he seemed to read her mind.

 

“You don’t have to move if you don’t want to,” he said slowly, “I can hold you as long as you want me to.”

 

Amy considered his offer, it was so very tempting after all, to just be held in his arms until she fell asleep, if sleep would come to her that is; but as she shifted one of her legs she found her foot had fallen asleep and decided that Dante would probably feel much worse, so she began to get up. “It wouldn’t be fair of me to keep you pinned to the floor like that,” she rasped, clearing her throat as she moved.

 

Dante sat still and watched her stand up, his eyes soft as he gazed up at her, “We can move somewhere more comfortable if you like,” he offered, finally moving to push himself to a kneeling position.

 

Amy frowned down at him, moving to help him up, “Are you that determined to hold me?” she asked sarcastically.

 

Dante stood up straight before her, looking down at her with soft kind eyes as he kept hold of the hand she’d offered to help him up, “I’m determined to help you Amy,” he corrected her, “if that means holding you, or staying ten feet away from you at all times, then so be it.”

 

Amy blinked up at him, the pain and sadness welling up once again at his kind words and gaze. She wanted to be held, she wanted to feel safe and secure and happy, she wanted to feel like her survival wasn’t dependent on a psychotic speedster’s approval of her, but life seemed to think she didn’t deserve such things. She hated Francisco, or at least she wanted to hate him, she wanted to be able to think of him as some horrible person with no redeeming qualities, but even in her deepest darkest corners of her mind she knew she loved him too much ever really hate him at all. How could he have done this though? How could he have followed Zoom’s orders and helped him capture Jessie like some animal? How could he be ok with the notion of that sweet selfless girl being held captive by a man who could kill her on a whim if he wanted to? All of these thoughts and more swirled like a clogged sewer drain in her mind, making her sick to her stomach and bringing the tears she thought she’d finished shedding for now back to her eyes.

 

“Dante…” she whispered, her hands already shaking in his as she sniffled pitifully.

 

Dante gave her hand a light squeeze, “It’s alright Amy, you don’t have to hide anything from me,” he smiled at her, warm and comforting, “we’re family now mija, I’m basically your big brother to.”

 

He’d intended the words to make her laugh, or smile, or at the very least to stop her crying, but they only seemed to make things worse, Amy once again dissolving into hiccuping sobs. He pulled her close and apologized, “Shh, no I’m sorry…just forget I said anything, ok?” but she shook he head and pulled back to look at him.

 

“I love him,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes, “I love him so much Dante, it’s like he’s a part of me, but…” she pressed her hands against her forehead and screwed her eyes shut for a moment before raking her hands through her hair, “oh god I don’t know how to feel! I love him, but I hate what he’s done, and I want to hate him but I can’t and it hurts so much because I want to be held Dante, I want his arms around me telling me it’s going to be alright but I know that if he did, he would be lying to me, because how can it be alright when Zoom has Jessie? He could do anything to her! And if I tried to save her, he’d kill me, and if I do nothing he could kill her, but I can’t just let her suffer like this, not when she was so kind to me, and – and-” she was hyperventilating now, gasping in breaths like the oxygen of the room was disappearing and Dante knew he had to act fast.

 

He pulled her tight against his chest before leaning down to lift her legs, “It’s alright Amy, just focus on my voice and breathe for me, ok? Just breathe,” he spoke close to her ear as he carried her through the small hallway to his suite, placing a small kiss on her temple to keep her focused on his presence, “in and out, nice and easy, come on Amy, you can do it,” he laid her out on his bed, scooting in next to her and pulling the covers up over both of their heads. The small tented space between them grew warm as Amy continued to gasp for air, but Dante remained determinedly calm, “Amy, listen to me, focus on me alright, focus on the sound of my voice,” he continued to speak, soft slow and calm until she finally began to calm down.

 

“I’m…I’m sorry I just-” Amy began, but Dante shook his head immediately.

 

“There is nothing to apologize for Amy,” he took hold of her hand gently, rubbing his thumb up and down her palm, “you’re in pain, it’s difficult to function when you’re in that much pain, believe me I know.”

 

Amy saw the twinge of sadness in his smile as he spoke “Is that what the drugs were for?” she asked bluntly, immediately feeling guilty for the question at the look of vague surprise on Dante’s face, but before she could try to apologize again he sighed.

 

“Yes and no,” he answered, his eyes casting down to the bed sheet as he paused, “it’s a complicated story, but I’d be happy to tell you if you really want to know…to be honest you’re the first person who has ever asked me about it.”

 

Amy swallowed thickly, trying to decide if she was prepared to hear Dante’s story, debating whether she was prepared to take on his sadness on top of her own; but his smile was warm and his eyes hopeful, and she decided that it was only fair to hear his story, in a way it would make them even. “I do,” she said, managing a small smile of her own, “I really do want to know Dante.”

 

Dante nodded, “Alright then…” he sighed, his hand fidgeting around hers as he collected his thoughts, “well I guess I’ll have to begin at the beginning…that’s way back when Francisco and I were just kids,” he laughed as he remembered his little brother as a child, so small and sweet and gentle, he had been a completely different person back then…but then again so had Dante.


	32. Chapter 32

“Forward...” Cisco whispered the word to himself as he sat in his living room, remembering Stein’s toast from the party earlier. He smiled thinking that yeah, they had all moved forward, Caitlin had come back to Star Labs, Barry had stopped thinking he wasn’t a hero, and he whole team was back together again. Forward.

He looked around his apartment, all of his projects now neatly organized around his desk, he’d cleaned the whole place a week ago, and had managed to keep it clean for longer than he could remember having ever been successful at it in the past. He chuckled as he thought to himself ‘gold star for you Cisco, you have successfully done an adult thing’ before giving himself a high five and going to the kitchen for a fruit roll up. He grabbed two, deciding that two was a reward, and hummed to himself as he opened the first, letting it hang from his mouth like a massive candy lizard tongue. He felt happy, a feeling he’d felt growing on him more and more as the days had gone by, sort of like the sensation of a warm cup of tea warming him from the inside out. He liked being happy, he liked sharing his happiness with his friends, and there was plenty of it to go around, hell Barry’s dad had been cleared of all charges and was a free man, what didn’t they have to be happy about? Thats when Cisco glanced over to the shelf with Amy’s picture, his eyes lingering on her smiling face as he stuffed the last piece of fruit roll up in his mouth with a sigh. 

“Hey Amy,” he nodded to the picture, addressing it as though she could hear him, “so Barry has stopped moping about the whole ‘not a hero thing’,” he took the picture off the shelf and moved to the couch, setting it on the coffee table in front of him as he continued to converse with it, “and Caitlin is back, which is cool, I missed her,” he tore open his second fruit roll up as he spoke, gesturing to the picture as if to offer her some, before laughing at his own stupid joke, “yeah, the whole team is back, I mean it took some strong arming from Joe and me, not to mention it was kinda hard for Barry to argue about it after Atom Smasher handed him his ass.” The mention of the Atom Smasher brought back the memory from the Flash rally, the strange flash of their latest big bad meta somewhere dark and different, the whole thing had freaked him out a little when it had happened. He sighed again, nibbling the end of his candy as he frowned thoughtfully, “things are still a little weird though,” he resumed his conversation with Amy’s picture as he chewed, “I mean you’re still gone, which still sucks, and it’s kinda weird operating without Wells coordinating everything, but that’s for the best obviously...” he trailed off thinking about whether he should mention the vision he’d had, but he shrugged deciding it was just some sort of weird panic reaction he’d had and smiled down at her, “but y’know, I think things are going pretty well,” he said with a decisive nod, “I mean we’re a team, we’ll figure it out eventually.” He flopped sideways, lounging across the whole couch as he finished his roll up. Yeah, they’d figure it out eventually.


	33. Chapter 33

“Dante if you don’t stop antagonizing your brother, I will smack you so hard your head will spin!” Miranda Ramon declared, slamming her hands down on the coffee table as her two sons froze in their squabbling at her familiarly shrill and angry voice.

“We’re only playing Mama,” Dante replied petulantly, his ten year old face morphing into a pout that would have made weaker women crumble, but not Miranda.

She fixed her son with a glare that would have given him third degree burns, her finger pointing menacingly as she squinted and hissed, “talk back to me again hijo and I’ll add a spanking to go with it!”

Dante shrank back at that, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he pouted at the floor. He and his brother really had been playing, the only reason their mother had targeted him for punishment was because Cisco was younger and smaller, and had a tendency to whine when Dante overpowered him. He shot Cisco a dirty look as he stalked past him, plopping down in the living room away from his mother, and picking up the book he’d been reading before Cisco had bothered him. It was a biography, adapted for children his age though it was, detailing the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his rise to fame as a composer. The cover had caught his eye at the elementary school library, with a colorful picture of Mozart himself, made to look more modern and cool with a pair of sunglasses drawn over his eyes and a whimsical font that displayed the title of the book “Making Music with Mozart” in metallic colored letters with stars around it; but once he started reading it, he’d grown even more attached to it. Discovering that Mozart had started learning piano at the age of three was fascinating to him, and made his own budding passion for music feel a little more normal despite his parents protestations.

“I’m sorry I got you in trouble,” Cisco’s small voice sounded from behind Dante’s book, the sound of it deepening Dante’s scowl as he read on determinedly. Cisco didn’t take the hint, instead he sat down across from his older brother, his legs extended so that his feet knock against Dante’s legs, “Dante…Daaanteee!” he called, his voice becoming progressively whinier the more he repeated his brother’s name.

“Will you shut up!” Dante finally snapped, thumping the book against Cisco’s feet to get him to move them, “you heard Mama, she doesn’t want us to play like that anymore, and you’re too much of a baby to be any fun without being able to hit you.”

Cisco made a face at him that was a mix between a scowl and a pout, “I am not a baby!” he whined, “I’m only two years younger than you!”

“Which makes you a baby,” Dante informed him matter o’ factly, “now leave me alone before I give you a real reason to be so whiny!”

“I’ll tell!” Cisco cried, kicking his brother as hard as his small legs could manage.

Dante bit back a shout of pain before raising his book in warning, threatening to smack Cisco with it, “Quit it!” Dante hissed angrily. He felt immediately guilty as Cisco cowered under him, his eyes growing wide as they stared up at the book. Dante would never really hit his baby brother like that, he couldn’t bear to, he was too protective over Cisco despite his annoying mannerisms. That was another thing that seemingly separated him from what his parents thought he ought to be, Dante was by nature a gentle boy, particularly when it came to fighting. Rough housing with his little brother was generally kept to little more than poking and putting Cisco in headlocks, with the occasional smack on the arm or back when things didn’t go his way; at school it was no different, which had given him no help at all when the school bullies decided to mess with him. Dante had received more injuries than he could remember to count from other boys at school, and every time he came home with a new one, his father’s only remark when he noticed was that he ‘shouldn’t fight so much like a girl’. 

Dante lowered the book slowly, giving his brother a stern look as he set it down beside him on the floor, “I’m serious Ciscito, Mama is already angry that Dad is late coming home again, if we get on her nerves she might beat us both with worse than a book.”

Cisco looked like a kicked puppy, his eyes cast down to his hands as he asked, “Do you think Papa is late because he is with another lady?”

Dante stared at his brother for a moment, his brows knitting as he tried to think of where he’d gotten such an idea from, “What are you talking about Ciscito?” he asked in return.

Cisco shrugged, picking at a spot on the carpet between his legs, “I heard Mama crying the other night when I got up to go to the bathroom, she was in the kitchen talking on the phone...” he glanced up at his brother, worry written across his young face, “she kept saying Papa was probably running around town with some woman and that he was gonna leave us because we were a burden to him...I...Dante I don’t want to be a burden, I’m not even sure what a burden is but I don’t want to be it if it means Papa will go away-”

“Cisco,” Dante cut his younger brother off, taking Cisco’s hands in his own to stop him fidgeting, “I don’t think Papa is with another woman,” he told him confidently, though the worry shining in Cisco’s eyes reflected his own now twisting in his gut. It was bad enough that his parents were constantly arguing about everything, but now if Mama suspected their father was cheating it was bound to get worse, then who knew what would happen.

Cisco blinked up at him, his eyes beginning to sparkle with unshed tears, “You don’t?” he asked softly, hesitantly.

Dante shook his head, “Nope,” he announced firmly, “he’s probably working late to make more money, or he’s drinking with his friends, you know how he always loses track of time when he drinks.”

Cisco nodded, a small smile coming to his face, “Yeah,” he agreed, taking his hands from Dante’s grasp to hastily wipe the tears from his eyes, “you’re right, he’s probably out with his friends from work, he’ll be home soon, and he won’t leave us,” he nodded again as he sniffled.

Dante smiled down at him, “Exactly,” he pat Cisco’s shoulder, “see, getting all snot nosed for nothing, I told you you’re a baby.”

Cisco scowled at him before tackling him with a hug, “I am not a baby,” he declared again as they tumbled to the floor, “but you are a butt brain!”

Dante hugged his brother back and laughed, glad he could cheer Cisco up despite his own worries, “I’m not a butt brain you big baby, now get off of me!” He shoved Cisco lightly, the smaller boy falling backward with a loud thump against the floor.

“Dante, what did I tell you about rough housing with your brother!” Miranda shrieked at the sound, the both of them suddenly growing fearful as their mother’s stomping footsteps approached. Lucky for them, the sound of the front door opening changed her focus, and as the sound of their father and another man coming in came down the hall, they heard Miranda’s footsteps stomp off towards them, already yelling about how late he was and how horrible he was for not thinking about her or their children while he was out doing who knows what.

“Yeah yeah yeah, shut your fucken mouth will ya? I just got home and you’re already screaming at me like a banshee,” Armand Ramon snapped back at his wife, though it didn’t silence her for a second. He shuffled into the kitchen with his guest, Miranda following all the while as she continued to shout abuse at him.

“Your woman sure is feisty huh Armand?” the other man asked with a laugh, “where can I get me one of these fiery Spanish women?”

Armand snorted at that, “Trust me Carl man, you don’t want one like this,” they both chuckled at that, “she doesn’t listen, she just runs her mouth and spends my money!” There was the sound of glass bottles clinking together before both men came stumbling into the living room, obviously less than sober as they fell onto the sofa together, sipping the freshly opened bottles of beer in their hands. 

Dante and Cisco sat in the far corner watching them warily. They had never met this friend of their father’s, and he had apparently never met their mother, which made him an unknown variable in the equation of their house, and if he and their father were already drunk, there was no telling what might happen, especially with their mother still breathing fire over her husband’s lateness.

Cisco clung tight to Dante’s arm as they tried to hide behind an armchair, “Looks like you actually were right Dante,” Cisco whispered to him, “that’s definitely not another woman.”

“Boys!” Armand cheered as he spotted his sons across the room, “Carl, those two little shits over there are my kids, Dante, Cisco, come over here and meet my friend Carl!” he waved them closer with one hand as he pointed his beer bottle neck at the man in question. Cisco and Dante didn’t move.

Carl laughed, “I don’t bite kiddos,” he promised, opening his arms wide, “not unless one of you is a smokin’ hot girl, then I make no promises.”

“They’re not gonna meet anybody, it’s bed time,” Miranda announced angrily as she stepped between the men and the boys, “Dante, Cisco, go get ready for bed.”

“Dios Mio woman, will you shut your face for five goddamn minutes?!” Armand bellowed at her, “Carl is my guest, and it is rude not to greet a guest when they come to your house, so they are going to come say hello to him or they’re gonna get their asses beat for being rude!”

“Thats it!” Miranda screeched back at him, “you come home late yet again, falling over drunk with a stranger, and you expect me to keep quiet?!” she stomped her foot, “you better enjoy that beer Armand, because it’s the last one you’re getting tonight!” She stomped back towards the kitchen, Armand fumbling to stand to follow her.

“You better not touch my beer woman, or so help me I will break your fingers!”

As their shouting echoed down the hallway, Dante and Cisco soon found themselves alone with Carl the stranger, who was snickering and shaking his head as he listened to the arguing of his hosts. “Woo, I bet theres never a dull moment around here huh?” he asked nobody in particular before swigging his beer. He set the bottle down on the floor beside the couch as he turned to the boys huddled in the corner, “now I know your daddy asked you two to come say hello to me, but I can see you’re a little afraid, so how about I just come over to you huh?” He slid to the floor on his knees, slowly crawling towards them as they clung tighter together. He stopped half a foot away and sat back on his heels, a wobbly but friendly looking smile coming to his face, “alright, now that we’re a little closer, I can see you better,” he extended his hand to them, stretching his arm to reach them, “My name is Carl, whats yours?”

Cisco’s grip on Dante’s arm was near painful, his frightened eyes glancing up at him and over at Carl’s outstretched hand interchangeably. Dante swallowed a lump in his throat and moved to shake Carl’s hand, knowing that his father was right, it was rude to ignore a guest, it was in the manners lessons he’d gotten while still in kindergarten. His hand shook slightly as it touched Carl’s “Dante...my name is Dante, this is my brother Francisco...” Carl gripped his hand firmly, but not too tight and they shook slowly, up and down, up and down.

“Pleasure to meet you boys, your daddy’s told me a lot about you,” he let Dante’s hand go and sat back again, “see me an him work together at the shipyard, I just started since I’m new in town, but your dad has been really nice to me,” his wobbly warm smile seemed fixed to his face as he cocked his head to the side, watching Dante and Cisco continuing to cower against the chair. “You two are pretty shy aren’t ya?” he asked with a sage nod, “can’t say I blame ya, new guy comes to your house, little tipsy, if I was your age I’d avoid him to,” he looked down at the floor then, searching for something to break the ice between them. He began patting his pockets then, his eyes lighting up with an idea, “Here, I have something that’ll war you right up to me,” he decided, digging in his left pocket her produced a small baggy with several small colorful candy looking shapes inside it, “You two like candy don’t ya?” 

Dante eyed him warily as he plucked a small collection of the shapes out of the bag, having never seen candy like that before. Cisco on the other hand, answered with a “Yeah, I like candy...” his grip on Dante’s arm loosening ever so slightly as his eyes trained on the little baggy.

Carl chuckled, “Well this is special candy here Francisco,” he said holding out the small collection he’d separated, “these you gotta swallow whole y’see, they don’t taste too good otherwise,” he held them out to Dante specifically, nodding to the other boy as Dante slowly extended his hand again, “but once you swallow em’, they make you feel real nice all over, kinda like a warm hug or something, understand?”

“If it’s candy, why doesn’t it taste good?” Cisco asked with a frown, narrowing his eyes at Carl as Dante inspected the candy curiously.

“Well it doesn’t taste real good because it’s grown up candy,” Carl explained, “see this special candy is made for grown ups, but since your daddy’s been so nice, and you two seem like good boys, I’m sharing it with you,” his wobbly smile grew into a wobbly, snaggle toothed grin, “but you gotta keep it secret ok? Otherwise your mom and dad might try to take it from ya,” he leaned closer as he whispered, “they might want the candy for themselves.”

Cisco’s eyes remained narrowed, his mouth opening to ask another question when suddenly Armand came barreling into the living room. “That’s it, Carl get up, we’re going back out so I don’t strangle this bitch!” he roared angrily.

“Fine! Go out again!” Miranda shouted from behind him, “But when you come home, you come home sober, or not at all!” 

“You better watch your tone Miranda, or I swear to God I will teach you why you should keep your mouth shut!”

“Alright alright, break it up!” Carl interrupted them as he stood, “we’ll go back out Armand, come on,” he grabbed his beer from beside the couch, “it was nice meeting you Mrs. Ramon, apologies for being slightly pickled when we arrived, but your husband sure knows how to have a good time!” he laughed, turning back to Cisco and Dante, “nice meeting you boys to! Now be good and get ready for bed like your mother said, huh?” 

Miranda scowled after them as he and Armand left the house once more. Once they were gone she snapped her fingers, “Well come on, get up you two, I told you to get ready for bed!” she barked, and Cisco and Dante didn’t need to be told twice. They were soon dressed in their pajamas and in their beds waiting for their mother to turn out the light. When she came in, she sighed wearily, muttering under her breath as she went to each of them and made sure they were properly tucked in.

“Goodnight Mama,” Cisco called to her as she went to switch off the light. 

She paused, turning back to look at him for a moment before replying softly, “Goodnight Francisco.”

“Te quiero Mama,” he called back as she switched off the light.

She paused for a moment more, her voice shaking as she quickly answered him, “Te quiero hijo mio,” and left.

Cisco rolled onto his side once she was gone, waiting until he could hear her footsteps far enough away to whisper shout to Dante, “Dante, do you think Papa is gonna come back toni-”

“Yes Cisco,” Dante answered before he could finish, giving him the only answer he knew wouldn’t upset him.

“Ok,” Cisco replied softly. There were a few moments of silence before he spoke again, “Hey Dante?”

Dante sighed, and rolled to face him, “What?” he asked, sounding only slightly annoyed with him.

“What did you do with that Candy Carl gave you?” Cisco grinned, thinking it would be a treat to have candy in bed.

Dante knew better though, “Uh...” he fumbled, not knowing what to tell him. He’d seen the candy up close, and while it did look convincingly like candy, the way Carl had described it had made him uneasy, like he were trying to convince them it really was candy as opposed to something else Dante didn’t know about. “Uh….I ate it,” he said quickly, furrowing his brow as his brother pouted at him.

“Aww, I wanted some!” Cisco whined, “did it make you feel nice like Carl said it would?”

Dante shook his head, “No, it just made my tummy hurt,” he lied, making a face as he put a hand over his stomach.

Cisco pouted even more, “Man...I knew that candy was weird!” he huffed before rolling back over, “well, goodnight Dante.”

Dante nodded, rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling, “Goodnight Cisco,” he replied softly. He felt his chest tighten, and his stomach twist as he thought about whether or not his father would really come home, his head beginning to ache as stress began to weigh him down like lead. He was only Ten years old, and yet he was faced with the dilemma of telling his brother a handful of lies to let him keep whatever childhood happiness he had left as the younger brother, or telling him the truth just to have someone to share the burden of knowing their family was a crumbling mess that could disintegrate at any moment. He sighed as he rolled over, his hand moving under the covers to the pocket of his pajama pants, the special candy Carl had handed him stowed away there for the night until he could get rid of it later. But as his head ached, and his stomach tied itself in knots, and his chest grew tighter by the minute, Carl’s special candy pitch began to sound more and more appealing. He pulled out a tiny piece, it was purplish in color, and had a small smiley face etched into it on one side. 

“Once you swallow em, they make you feel real nice all over, kinda like a warm hug...”

Dante eyed the small tab in his hand for a moment more, then he popped it in his mouth and did his best to swallow, the small little thing feeling massive as it went down his throat. Within a few minutes he felt like he was floating, his chest and stomach righting themselves as his headache eased and he smiled. Carl was telling the truth, this candy was special...and he was going to keep it all to himself.

======== ============= ========== ============= ============

Amy stared at Dante with wide pitiful eyes, “You were only ten when you took Ecstasy for the first time?” she gasped, one hand placed over her heart on her chest, and the other clinging to Dante’s hand. Tears clung to her lower lashes as she looked at him, tears of his own staining his cheeks.

“I was just a kid,” He explained softly, “It didn’t seem like a bad thing at the time and it just sort of….escalated from there.”

Amy shook her head, “Oh Dante,” she surged forward, wrapping her arms around him tight, “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, I’m so so sorry that man tricked you….how could he? Giving drugs to a child, thats just-!”

“I know Amy, I know,” Dante hushed her, hugging her back, “Carl was a real piece of shit, believe me, if the drugs weren’t a red flag, then walking in on him and my mom definitely tipped me off.”

At that Amy pulled back and gasped, “Seriously?!”

Dante gave her a half hearted smile and a shrug, “I said he was a piece of shit,” Amy gave him a vaguely horrified look but he brushed it off, “look, I know that all this is pretty horrible to hear, logically I knew that when it was all happening, but being high really has a way of telling logic to fuck off so I just sort of ignored it,” he put a hand on her knee as he concluded, “but its ok now Amy, honestly, it was a million years ago and I’m so much better now.”

“You mean now that you’re sober?” She asked quietly.

Dante nodded, “That, and now that I have my brother back,” he gave her leg a squeeze, “and an amazing sister in law to go with him.”

Amy frowned at him, “Francisco and I aren’t married Dante.”

Dante shrugged again, “Not yet,” he conceded, “but you two love each other, love like yours doesn’t just go away, you two are husband and wife material honey.”

Amy looked down at her hands then, “I wouldn’t hold your breath,” she murmured, “I’d have to forgive him for that to happen, and I can barely stand to think about what he’s done right now...”

Dante shook his head, “Oh Amy,” he said patting her knee, “weren’t you listening to my story?”

Amy looked up at him and nodded, “Yes of course I was listening Dante, you know I was!” she defended in confusion.

Dante smiled at her gently, “Then you would understand why he did what he did,” he told her firmly, watching as Amy’s face contorted in even more confusion before he continued. “Amy think about it, when we were kids, I did my best to keep Francisco happy and innocent, I did my best to hide as much as I could from him, and for a while it worked; but I was Ten when I started taking drugs, how long after that do you think Francisco started to realize that things weren’t as alright as his big brother made them seem?” Amy’s face was still scrunched in confusion, so he went on, taking her hands in his to express the importance of his words. “Francisco had to learn early that sometimes you have to do things you don’t like in order to survive. He and I slept in the same room until he went to college Amy, he was there to hear every late night fight between my parents, every breaking bottle, every threat to leave, and he just covered his ears and ignored it like me. He watched our father drink himself to sleep every night that he was home, and when Papa told him to go buy his beer when he was old enough, you bet your ass he did as he was told to save himself a fight or a beating. Francisco does what needs to be done to survive, and if that means working for a psychopath with super powers, then he’ll grin and bear it for as long as he can, because thats what he’s been doing his whole life.”

Amy stared at him for a moment, realization dawning on her face. As her wide eyes began to shrink once more, she frowned at him and asked, “If he does what he has to, in order to survive, then why did he stop me?” it was Dante’s turn to look puzzled before she explained, “When we were at the college, just before they attacked her, Francisco knew I knew Jessie, so he turned to me and knocked me out…why do that? Why risk it knowing it might reveal too much to Zoom about us, about me?”

Dante blinked at her before laughing out loud, “Seriously? You’re seriously asking that?” he choked out between laughs, “Amy come on, it’s obvious!”

Amy shook her head, “If it’s so obvious, then explain it!” she demanded impatiently.

Dante composed himself with some difficulty before looking at her again, his hands still holding hers he gave them a squeeze, “Amy I just told you, Francisco loves you, you’re husband and wife material,” Amy shook her head, not following, so he sighed and locked eyes with her, “Amy, he loves you,” he repeated, “Francisco has never loved anyone or anything as much as he loves you, not even his own survival.” 

Amy felt fresh tears burning her eyes, her throat growing tight as she asked, “So you’re saying, that he…he values my life above his own?”

Dante nodded, “He stopped you from saving your friend because he knew that Siren bitch would kill you on the spot,” he smiled, “psychopath boss or no psychopath boss, you are my brother’s life now, he’s going to do whatever needs to be done to keep you safe.”

Amy couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, her whole body shaking as she wailed, “Oh Dante, I can’t let him die for me!” Dante quickly pulling her into his arms as she sobbed.

“Shh, shh Amy I know, believe me I know,” he said in a quiet soothing tone, “but he is so stupidly stubborn, I’m not sure you can stop him.” He held Amy until she cried herself to sleep, all the while muttering soft words in her ear.

Francisco lay in bed awake in his room, staring up at the ceiling as he forced himself not to vibe what Amy and Dante were up to without him. He felt guilt twist in his stomach, wiggling and writhing like an angry snake. Guilt stemming not from stopping Amy from protecting Jessie, but guilt from something else entirely. He clenched his fist reflexively, feeling the phantom sensations of what it was like to open a portal like he had so many times before...like he could have done the day Amy fell into his life, a portal to send her home….


	34. Chapter 34

“She’s not here,” Francisco whipped around at the sound of his brother’s voice, his hand, halfway raised to knock against the door leading to Dante’s room now clutched to his chest in surprise.

“Where is she?” Francisco asked, giving his brother an annoyed look as he stood munching on a bag of tortilla chips in the kitchen doorway.

Dante chuckled, shrugging his shoulders, “Dunno, she said she had some things to do and left,” he pointed to his brother with the bag, “but you can just vibe where she is right? Why ask me?”

Francisco looked down at the floor, muttering a reply of, “she wouldn’t like me spying...not unless she was in danger,” then he looked up at his brother again, “is she….how is she?” he asked hesitantly, hoping he could get a better answer than a shrug without his brother yelling at him like he had the other night.

Dante nodded slowly, carefully folding the top of the chip bag before setting it on the counter, “She’s still upset,” he told him honestly, dusting his hands off on his pants, “I mean she’s not ready to attack you anymore, at least I don’t think she is, but...she’s still pretty not ok with the fact that you aided in kidnapping her friend-”

“I didn’t have a choice!” Francisco tried to snap, but Dante put his hand up to silence him.

“Will you shut the fuck up and listen to me?” Dante asked in a bored tone, making Francisco frown defensively, “whats the point of asking me how she is if you’re gonna fight me on it?” Dante elaborated, “you don’t get to dictate how other people feel hermano, so sit down, shut up and listen, ok?” Francisco growled irritably but did as Dante asked, taking a seat in the nearby armchair as Dante sat down on the sofa. “Right so where was I?” Dante asked, before shaking his head, “Oh right, she’s upset that you helped kidnap her friend, but she understands why you had to let it happen, and why you knocked her out.”

Francisco stared at him, waiting for him to go on, but he didn’t, “That’s it?” he asked, “that’s all you had to tell me, ‘shes still mad but she knows why you did it’?”

Dante shrugged, “More or less, yeah,” he confirmed “I just wanted you to make sure you’d absorbed that information before I moved on to the next part.”

Francisco looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel in his temple, his jaw was clenched so tight, “What do you mean, the next part?” he growled, praying that his brother was not about to try to lecture him.

Dante leaned close, his voice low as he locked eyes with his brother “The part, where I try to get it through your thick skull that Amy isn’t gonna put up with this shit,” he said seriously, “and I’m gonna tell you right now, you better keep your mouth shut until the end, or so help me, powers or no powers I will crack your skull if you don’t pay attention.”

The fierceness in Dante’s eyes caught Francisco off guard, making him feel vaguely uneasy at this new side of his brother. He nodded, leaning back in his own chair, “I’m all ears then,” he said, though his face was fixed with a scowl.

Dante nodded as well, “Good,” he smiled slightly as he leaned back himself, “Now, Francisco, I realize you and I haven’t had the best of relationships since I started using way back when we were kids, so I’m not going to expect you to appreciate it when I say I love and care about you because you are my one and only little brother. However, as much as I love and care about you, I love and care about Amy too, which means when you fuck up and hurt her, I am not going to stand aside and let it happen. That being said, you are both family to me, so before I immediately resort to beating some sense into you, I’m going to try to talk it into you like a civilized adult, so here it goes,” he sat up straight then, rolling his neck which made a slight popping noise as he cracked it, then he turned his gaze back to Francisco and said in a loud slow shout, “AMY IS NOT GOING TO STAY UNDER ZOOM’S THUMB ANYMORE.” 

Francisco’s eyes went wide at the volume with which his brother ended his statement, then even wider as he understood what he’d said, “What do you mean?” he asked, his voice low and afraid.

Dante shrugged again, “Exactly what I said Francisco,” he replied simply, “she’s tired of hurting people, she’s tired of working for a literal super villain, she’s basically tired of everything, so she’s not going to stay under his thumb anymore.”

Francisco surged forward, grabbing Dante’s wrist in a crushing grip, “Did she say that specifically or are you just making an assumption?” he asked in a hiss.

“She kind of said that specifically,” Dante answered him, trying to wrench his wrist free, “only she said she didn’t want to work for him anymore, not she didn’t want to be under his thumb.”

Francisco threw him away from himself with an angry shout, Dante’s next words drowned out in the vibe he induced, desperate to find where Amy was. She had every right to get out of Zoom’s service, Francisco wasn’t going to argue that, but knowing her she wasn’t going to just want out, she’d want to do something to stop Zoom, and she couldn’t do that alone, nobody could. He touched the bracelet she’d given him, focusing on her vibrations until he found her, dressed in some of the clothes Jessie had given her accept for her shirt which he noticed with a slight tightening in his chest, was one of his. She was in the lobby of a familiar hotel, the boy she was talking to familiar as well but he couldn’t place them until he saw the boy’s name tag. It was David, from the hotel she’d stayed in ages ago, that’s why the lobby looked familiar. He concentrated then, listening in on what they were saying.

“Look Amy, I don’t want to talk about it,” David was saying, his eyes shifting uncomfortably, “I mean if Zoom had he snatched up, then who’s to say he’s not keeping any eye out for people who are asking questions about it?”

“I understand your concern David, I really do,” Amy assured him gently, “but I promise you Zoom has no idea that I’m looking into this, all I need to know is why he would have he kidnapped, any possible suggestion could be helpful, alright?”

David looked down at his desk, his thumb twitching against the surface as he replied, “Well, my guess is because of her dad,” he said without looking at her, “I mean he’s the reason metas exist anyway, maybe Zoom wants him to make him stronger or something?”

Amy frowned, “What do you mean he’s the reason meta’s exist?” she asked.

At that David looked up at her with a frown, “Seriously?” he asked, then he nodded in realization, “Right, Jessie probably never told you who her dad was,” he shrugged, “can’t say I blame her, it’s not the first thing you tell someone you just met,”

Amy sighed, “David, could you get to the point?”

“Sorry,” David replied as he pulled out his cell phone, “this is Jessie’s dad,” he said as he held out his phone, a picture from some website or another displayed on the screen. It was a selfie, with Jessie making a silly face next to a very stern faced Harrison Wells.

Amy snatched the phone out of his hand and stared at it, wide eyed, “Jessie’s father is Harrison Wells?” she whispered, scrolling through more pictures, some of them of just Jessie, some of Jessie and friends from school, but plenty more of Jessie and her father, his unmistakable face sending chills down Amy’s spine.

David nodded, “Now you know why I’m saying, it was probably because of her father that Zoom had her snatched.”

Amy looked up at him and nodded, “David, listen to me alright?” she said quietly, handing him back his phone, “don’t tell anyone that I asked you about this ok? Don’t even mention me, or Jessie at all, ok?”

David gave her a concerned look, but nodded all the same, “Are you in some kind of trouble to Amy?” he asked in a whisper.

Amy gave him a small smile, “I hope not, but like you said, who knows who Zoom might have listening in,” she backed away from the counter, “stay out of trouble David, alright?”

“Alright,” David agreed, waving to her, “you too!”

Francisco snapped out of his vibe the moment Amy left the hotel, slapping away Dante’s hand as he waved it in front of his face. “You idiot!” he roared, jumping out of his seat, “why didn’t you stop her?!” he rushed to the hall closet, pulling on his leather jacket, “Do you have any idea what kind of danger you’re letting her walk into?”

“She’s a grown woman, she can take care of herself,” Dante replied firmly, “running after her isn’t going to stop her Francisco, she’s doing this for you after all.”

Francisco froze at that, fixing Dante with a murderous look, “What do you mean, she’s doing this for me?”

“I mean,” Dante began pointedly, “she’s working against Zoom so that he won’t be around anymore to make you do all those terrible things you’ve made her do with you,” he stood then, sauntering back to the kitchen to retrieve his tortilla chips, “I told you, she knows why you helped kidnap her friend, and she’s tired of being the bad guy, so she’s going out to do something about it to try and save both your asses, and you know what,” he pulled a chip from the bag and raised it in a sort of toast, “more power to her, if she wants to bring Zoom down, I’m with her one hundred percent!”

Francisco took a hanger from the closet and hurled it at him, “You fucking pendejo! She’s gonna get herself killed, and you’re supporting it!” without another word he left, slamming the door behind him. 

Dante, having narrowly dodged the projected hanger, sighed and shook his head in his brother’s wake, “You’re both going to get yourselves killed if you keep working for Zoom...” he plucked another chip from the bag and bit it in half, “just let her save you Francisco, someone has to....”


	35. Chapter 35

Jessie Wells.

Amy had forgotten that was what Francisco had called her that day at the school, hell she barely remembered what actually happened at the school after what Francisco did to her head, but now that detail was resurfacing and it had Amy’s mind reeling. After the initial shock of seeing his face again, Amy’s brain began working to understand what was happening; Harrison Wells had been a good man on her Earth before Eobard Thawne stole his life from him, and while just thinking about the Wells she remembered still turned her stomach slightly, she reasoned he wasn’t likely to be evil on this Earth, no matter how many of her friend’s evil doppelgangers turned up here. No Harrison Wells was just a magnet for misfortune it seemed, and also apparently destined in every universe to be the father of the meta humans. She wondered briefly then, if he was the reason they existed, why would Zoom want to hurt him so badly? Which she answered immediately with the realization that if Wells was a good guy on this Earth, helping a psychotic speedster get stronger wasn’t likely something he was keen to do; and what was the best way to get a father to do what you wanted? Target his child. 

 

Amy felt her stomach twist again, her head throbbing as this new information surged through her mind, puzzle pieces she didn’t know existed clicking together to form a bigger mental picture as she hurried down the street. She decided as soon as David showed her the picture of Jessie and Harrison she needed to find out as much as she possibly could on this world’s Star Labs, but she needed to be careful about it, after all if Zoom was as crazy as he seemed to be, he no doubt had cronies keeping an eye out for anyone looking for that kind of info, and she knew that Francisco would never tell her anything for fear of her getting into too much trouble. Her best bet was a public library, preferably with computer access. She found one downtown, and with a quick application for a library card under her mother’s name, she was on the internet where the search results for Star Labs gave her well over one hundred pages of links to various news and tabloid sites, all of which in a frenzy over the attack at Central City University. Guilt gnawed at her for a few moments before she refined her search to the history of Star Labs, finding the facility’s own website which detailed the Lab’s history in a convenient little slide show located on a page aimed at selling guided tours to the public. 

 

The story was much the same as her Star Labs, founded by Harrison Wells and his late wife Tess Morgan, it was created in the hopes of being the heart of innovative science and technology, and it had lived up to expectations. There was a brief slide on the Wells family, detailing how Tess had died of cancer, leaving Harrison to raise their daughter alone. There was also some mention of Jessie’s accomplishments, and hints that she might follow in her father’s footsteps; all of which only made Amy feel even more guilty for being a part of Jessie’s abduction. The information she really needed was the date of the particle accelerator explosion, and what, if any, efforts Star Labs was taking to help those the incident had affected. She watched the slide show twice, just to be sure she hadn’t missed it, but there was nothing to miss: Star Labs didn’t care about the metas they’d created. 

 

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” she muttered, leaning back in her chair, “no wonder Zoom is doing his best to hurt you, Harrison, you’re like Frankenstein cowering after birthing his creature.” She made a disgusted sound, closing all the tabs she’d had opened and getting up to leave, her mind still working to find some way to help Jessie. In her distracted state of mind, she didn’t see the blond man watching her from one of the reading corners by the library’s large windowed balcony, which was a testament to her distraction considering the man was dressed so oddly. He wore a dark red military style leather jacket, silver snaps set off to the side with the outline of a silver lightning bolt emblazoned in the center. Beside him on a small table littered with books and magazines, there sat a shiny winged helmet, identical to the one that had sprung through the portal back on Amy’s Earth, the day she’d been tossed through to this one. He watched her leave the library with a hawk-like gaze, his eyes taking in her every detail as she hurried past a few patrons, head down in thought the entire time. To an outside observer, he might have looked as though he wanted to follow her, but whether that were the case or not, he didn’t get the chance as a small hand tapped at his arm drawing his gaze to a little boy before him.

 

“Excuse me,” the boy said politely, if not a tad too softly, “but...are you the crimson comet?” 

 

The blond man smiled, his head nodding as he leaned forward to greet the boy, “Yes I am,” he confirmed kindly, taking the boys hand to shake “but you can call me Jay.”


	36. Not Quite a Chapter, Just a Heads Up.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I was listening to music at work today, and I came across this song that I already knew and loved, but it just hit me pretty hard when I listened to it tonight that this is basically what is going to be coming up in this story. So if you would like a sort of...preview? of what's coming for Amy and everyone, give this a listen, if not then disregard this 'chapter' and wait for an actual update :D

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIJTe1YEd9E>

**"Seven Devils"**  


Holy water cannot help you now  
Thousand armies couldn't keep me out  
I don't want your money  
I don't want your crown  
See I've come to burn your kingdom down  
  
Holy water cannot help you now  
See I've come to burn your kingdom down  
And no rivers and no lakes can put the fire out  
I'm gonna raise the stakes, I'm gonna smoke you out  
  
Seven devils all around me!  
Seven devils in my house!  
See they were there when I woke up this morning  
I'll be dead before the day is done  
  
Seven devils all around you  
Seven devils in your house  
See I was dead when I woke up this morning  
I'll be dead before the day is done  
Before the day is done  
  
And now all your love will be exorcised  
And we will find you saints to be canonized  
And it's an even song  
It's a melody  
It's a battle cry  
It's a symphony  
  
Seven devils all around me  
Seven devils in my house  
See they were there when I woke up this morning  
I'll be dead before the day is done  
  
Seven devils all around you  
Seven devils in your house  
See I was dead when I woke up this morning  
I'll be dead before the day is done  
Before the day is done  
Before the day is done  
Before the day is done  
  
They can keep me out  
'Til I tear the walls  
'Til I save your heart  
And to take your soul  
For what has been done  
Cannot be undone  
In the evil's heart  
In the evil's soul  
  
Seven devils all around you  
Seven devils in your house  
See I was dead when I woke up this morning  
I'll be dead before the day is done  
Before the day is done


	37. Chapter 37

“A Piano?” Francisco stared at the pamphlet in Amy’s hands, his chest beginning to feel too tight to breathe as he listened to Amy’s words.

 

 

“Yes a piano,” Amy confirmed with a nod, “I thought I would get one for Dante as a thank you gift...for y’know...being there for me wh-when I was...” she began to fidget slightly, her eyes downcast as she tried to find the right words to say ‘ _when I thought I hated you..._ ’ but Francisco saved her the trouble.

 

 

“So you’ve been gone all this time, shopping for a piano?” He asked, knowing that she would likely give him the same answer as before, his brain couldn’t seem to come up with anything better to say. He knew she was lying, she probably knew he knew, the question was why? Why was she lying to him so blatantly? Why did she think that covering up what she was doing with such a flimsy deliberate lie was better than telling him the truth?

 

 

“Yes,” Amy answered him again, and she did know that he saw through it, if she were honest she expected him to, thats why she was lying to begin with. She took a step towards him, holding out the pamphlet she’d grabbed from the music store, “I did promise him a piano when he moved in, and after everything that’s happened I just thought…” she sighed, her hands shaking as she held the pamphlet out to him, “I just...I think you should really look through this, so you can see what I’ve been doing.”

 

‘ _see what I’ve been doing_ ’ Francisco took the pamphlet from her slowly, biting down his reply of ‘ _but I have seen what you’ve been doing my love, you know I have_ ’ as he looked down at the slightly crumpled paper in his hands and began to open it.

 

 

Amy quickly closed her hands around his, pressing the pamphlet closed again with a nervous smile, “Not down here,” she whispered, glancing around the lobby of the building for a moment, “lets go upstairs first...I...I could make us dinner?”

 

 

Francisco stared at her in silence again, searching her eyes for answers. After a moment he nodded, “Upstairs,” he agreed, “Dante will be thrilled to try your cooking.”

 

 

Amy nodded as well, her nervous smile turning somewhat genuine, “I’m sure he will,” she replied, “he might even help.”

 

 

She began to pull her hands from his, the slow trail of her fingers sliding against his knuckles igniting a spark of panic in his, his chest tightening further as he suddenly felt like she was slipping away from him. He didn’t think before what he did next, he didn’t care who saw them, or who might be watching, his body was acting on the command of his heart and he couldn’t fight it anymore. He grabbed hold of her retreating hands, pulling her close before wrapping his hands around the back of her head, pulling her in for a kiss. Amy made a sound of surprise, stiffening against him as she tried to push him back half heartedly, but after a moment she stopped, giving in to him as she kissed him back.

 

 

‘ _I’m sorry Francisco, I know you’re going to disapprove, but I have to do this…I have to try..._ ’ Amy thought as she wrapped her arms around him, the warmth of his body underneath her fingers helping to calm her slightly.

 

 

‘ _Amy my love,_ _I know I won’t be able to convince you otherwise, but please don’t make me lose you to….’_ Francisco pleaded in his mind, trying to convey his thoughts through his lips. When he pulled back to look at her, he had to clench his jaw to keep the tears at bay, his eyes flicking downwards as he muttered, “We should really get upstairs.”

 

Amy nodded, stepping away from him, “Yeah…yeah we should,” she agreed. She took his hand in hers, squeezing it gently as they headed for the elevator. As the door closed on them both, and the elevator began to ascend, their hands stayed together, neither one of them wanting to let go of the other, because they knew that once they did, that was it, the beginning of their separation; not as a couple, they couldn’t possibly break up now, they loved each other too much….no this was to be a separation of power. Amy’s light was fighting to come back.

 

\----------- ----------- ----------- ------------ ---------- ------------ -------------

 

 

_One hour previous_

 

 

Amy had a lot to prepare for. She wasn’t even sure where to begin, but she knew she had to find some way to bring Zoom down, it was the only way to save Jessie and Francisco both. She walked the streets, lost in thought as she tried to remember everything Francisco had told her about Zoom, everything she’d learned about his operations, anything to do with Zoom she had picked up during her time here. She walked and walked and walked, at one point she wasn’t even sure where she’d walked to, her surroundings seeming vaguely familiar, but too Earth 2 for her to know where she was for sure. Then she heard it, the soft soothing sounds of a piano drifting to her ears from a shop on the corner. She entered the shop slowly, almost afraid that her frenzied thoughts might disrupt the light twinkling music that filled the store around her.

 

 

‘Dante needs a piano,’ she thought as she watched the pianist in the middle of the shop play, ‘I promised him one when he moved in...god that was ages ago...’

 

 

Amy began to look around, finding a whole host of instruments on every shelf. She trailed her hands over the shiny black wood of a piano near her, memories of what it was like before she’d slipped so far into the darkness, back when she and Francisco were newly in love and the challenges ahead of them seemed like small bumps in the road compared to the thousand cuts to her soul they had actually been. She felt her heart clench as she thought of Francisco, wondering how on earth she was going to tell him what she was planning, or whether she should even try. Francisco would undoubtedly try to stop her, try to talk her out of it, “it’s for your own safety!” he would say, and she knew he would be right, she would be a lot safer if she kept her head down and did what she was told...but that wasn’t who she was, and they both knew that.

 

 

“Can I help you with anything?” The sweet voice of a woman made Amy jump as she turned to find the pianist who she’d heard playing behind her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the woman apologized, “did you need any help finding anything?”

 

 

Amy blinked, looking around at the various pianos she could choose from, “I uh...I wanted to buy a piano,” she replied awkwardly, “my boyfriend he...his brother just moved in with us recently, and he plays so I wanted to get him one...as a gift,”

 

 

The woman nodded, “Oh well you’ve come to the right place,” she said with a chuckle, “as you can see we have plenty to choose from!” she reached inside the bench of the nearby piano, pulling out a pamphlet with pictures of all the various designs they had available, “perhaps you’d like to look through this and see what he likes?” she suggested, “the prices are listed in the back, but they are all open for negotiation if you find something you really like out of your price range.”

 

 

Amy nodded, looking through the pamphlet for a few pages, “Thank you, I’ll take this home and discuss it with him,” she smiled at the woman, doing her best to be polite while her mind still reeled with thoughts of Francisco and Zoom.

 

 

The woman nodded again, “Alright, well our hours are listed in the back of the pamphlet as well, along with our phone number in case you wanted to call and have a piece reserved for you,” she turned to walk away, heading back to the piano she’d been playing when a thought struck Amy suddenly.

 

 

“Um, excuse me,” she called to the woman with a nervous smile, “do you have any paper and pen I could use?”

 

 

The woman frowned thoughtfully, “Hmm, I think we might have a legal pad in the back, I’ll go and check,” she slipped behind the counter and into a back room, leaving Amy to sit on the nearby piano bench to wait. When she re-emerged with the legal pad and a pen, the woman handed them to her with a smile before resuming her music.

 

 

Amy sat on the bench for nearly half an hour, scribbling on the pad, and crossing it out before scribbling again. In the end she tore the page she’d used out and handed the pad and pen back to the woman, “Thank you again, I’ll be sure to come back as soon as we’ve chosen the right one,” she held the pamphlet up and the woman smiled. Once she was outside the shop, she pulled the paper out and folded it carefully, stowing it inside the pamphlet before shoving the whole thing in her pocket. She knew that writing him a note was sort of a cowards way out, she should just tell him to his face and brave the waves of panic and worry that would roll off of him afterwards, but no...she couldn’t bear to see his face so sad and afraid, this was the best way to do it.

 

 

The note was short for all the scribbling she’d done, but it got the point across well enough:

 

 

_Dear Francisco,_

 

_I know you don’t want me to put myself in danger like this, but I have to do something. Jessie does not deserve to pay for the sins of her father, she is a young sweet innocent girl, and I cannot sit by while she is being held captive by a monster with a grudge. Zoom must be stopped. For her sake, and for yours. You’ve protected me long enough, and I am grateful for that, I really am...but the time has come for me to remember who I was before I came to this world. I was a hero. I might not have been a very good one, or a very experienced one, but I was still a hero none the less. I don’t hate you for living this way, it makes sense that you would do what you had to do in order to survive, I get that… but this is what I need to do in order to survive, in order to live with myself. I love you Francisco, more than I can put into words, and I don’t want you to ever doubt that for a single second...that’s also why I’m doing this. I love you too much to let you risk your life to keep me safe. Now I suggest you burn this letter after you read it, destroy it so that it can’t be held against you if Zoom’s spies ever turn on us, but everything I’ve said in this letter is true, regardless of whether it’s written down or not. I hope you can understand Francisco._

 

_\- Your Amy._

 

 

\------------- ---------------- -------------------- -------------- ---------------

 

Francisco watched the little yellow paper burn into ash out on the balcony, the flames leaping and flying off in little ashen sparks. He wanted to be sick, he wanted to scream and rage and force Amy to stop, but he wouldn’t. He loved her too much to try to control her, but he prayed to whoever might be listening, with every fiber of his being, through every layer of the multiverse he pleaded, ‘ _keep Amy safe...keep Amy alive…or kill me before I have to lose her again..._ ’


	38. Chapter 38

“Knock knock?” Caitlin tapped on the doorway to Cisco’s workshop, a small frown on her face as she peered inside, finding it quiet and seemingly empty. “Cisco?” she called, stepping inside curiously, second guessing her memory of seeing him on the Star Labs security feed a few minutes ago.

 

“Caitlin,” Cisco called back to her from the hallway, making her jump slightly in surprise.

 

“I thought you were in here,” she sighed with a smile, “why did you sneak up on me like that!”

 

“I didn’t mean to,” Cisco replied with a shrug, “I was just microwaving my last hot pocket, I didn’t know you were looking for me,” he held up his snack as evidence, “did you need something?”

 

Caitlin shook her head, “No, not really,” she answered hesitantly, “I just wanted to...check on you.”

 

Cisco stopped mid bite of his hot pocket, glancing up at her carefully, “Check on me?” he repeated, moving past her to set his snack on his desk, “check on me why?” he asked, though he already knew the answer, he was just hoping to avoid the impending conversation.

Caitlin sighed, she knew how Cisco’s avoidance tactics worked, but she couldn’t let this slide. “Cisco, it’s been three weeks since Kendra left, and I know you said you were fine, but-”

 

“But nothing Caitlin,” Cisco cut her off calmly, “I said I’m fine and I am, these things happen, me and Kendra didn’t work out, it’s not a big deal.” He sat in his desk chair, opening a random drawer in an attempt to look busy, hoping it would put Caitlin off pushing the matter; but Caitlin knew him better than that.

 

“Cisco, we have been friends far too long, and have been through far too much for you to be able to lie to me,” Caitlin announced sternly, “especially since you’re barely even trying to!”

 

Cisco stopped rummaging in his drawer, clenching his jaw for a moment as he turned to Caitlin, “Fine,” he conceded, shutting the drawer as he sat up, “I’m upset, ya got me, but I still don’t want to talk about it, so can we...y’know, not?”

 

Caitlin gave him a sympathetic look, her mouth scrunching up as she slowly moved to his side, “I know you don’t want to talk about it, no one ever does,” she sat on the corner of his desk, carefully lifting his hand to hold in her lap, “but thats the thing about talking, if we don’t share our feelings they get stuck inside us, and then we get stuck with them, and we stop talking about more things, and pretty soon you’re working in a completely different lab without your best friends and ignoring texts because you’re too scared and sad to face them.”

 

Cisco quirked one eyebrow up at her, wrapping his hand in her lap around hers, “Are we talking about me here, or you?” he asked, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips as he gave her hand a squeeze.

 

“Both,” Caitlin replied honestly, looking down at her knees, “I know you said you’ve forgiven me for abandoning you, but I still feel bad about it,” she shrugged, bringing her other hand up to fiddle with his thumb, “but this is mostly about you,” she amended, giving his hand a squeeze, “Kendra was the first girl you’ve liked since Amy, and I know you don’t want to think about that, but I just wanted to make sure you know there’s nothing wrong with you...these...these things that keep happening to us, they’re flukes, it’s not because you’re broken or un-loveable that Amy is gone and Kendra left, it’s just…this new weird multiverse just messing with us.”

 

Cisco stared up at her as she spoke, a tightness growing in his chest as he listened to her, watching the crinkle in her forehead come and go as she struggled to find the right words to say to him. He really loved Caitlin, she was one of the sweetest people he knew, and after everything that had happened between them, everything they’d lost, she decided to come down to his workshop just to make sure he knew that he deserved to be loved? If that wasn’t friendship goals, he didn’t know what was.

 

“Cait,” he said once she’d finished, standing so that he could look her more directly in the eyes, “I know it’s not my fault that Amy is gone, and Kendra left,” he took both her hands in his, holding them up to his chest as he smiled at her softly, “I know that theres nothing wrong with me, unless you count being super bummed that my love life sucks,” they shared a chuckle as he continued, “and most importantly, I know that you care about me, and wanted to make sure I wasn’t drowning in my own tears or whatever after what happened; but Caitlin, when I said I didn’t want to talk about it, it wasn’t because I wanna bottle up my emotions and wallow in them, it’s because I was already starting to forget about Kendra dumping me, and I didn’t want to be reminded of it already.”

 

Caitlin blinked at him owlishly, “Wait...seriously?” she asked, “it was only three weeks ago-”

 

“It was a whole three weeks ago,” Cisco corrected, “an entire twenty one days, most of a month in fact!” his smile grew as he continued explaining, “look, Kendra was great and all, but she wasn’t the love of my life or anything, and if she wants to go off and live with her four thousand year old soul mate then who am I to stop her?”

 

Caitlin frowned in confusion, “But you really liked her -!”

 

“I also really like you,” he cut her off again, tapping her on the nose, “come on Cait, I’m young, single, and alive, dating Kendra was fun, y’know minus the whole ancient murderous stalker thing,” he shrugged putting his hands on her shoulders, “but I wasn’t in love with her, I sort of barely knew her come to think of it, so I’m not going to waste time anguishing over what could have been if she’d stuck around alright?” his smile saddened almost imperceptively as he added, “I already wasted enough time doing that over Amy.”

 

Caitlin pouted at him softly, “Well...now I feel silly,” she mumbled awkwardly, “why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”

 

“I tried,” Cisco replied with a laugh, “I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”

 

“Yeah but I thought that was because you were sad, not because you were already moving on!” Caitlin cried, laughing herself at how serious she’d felt when she’d come down.

 

“Well I didn’t want to sound like a dick, its not my fault you’re such a good friend.”

 

Caitlin shook her head, “Well I’m so sorry I’m such a good friend, forgive me for wanting to be sure you were ok,” she teased sarcastically, “next time I’ll just let you wallow.”

 

Cisco laughed, “That’s what I like to hear,” he pulled her in for a hug, “now what do you say we go get something to eat, and talk about happy stuff, hm?”

 

“What about your hot pocket?” Caitlin asked as they broke apart.

 

Cisco shrugged, “I’ll give it to Harry, he steals them anyway, why do you think this one is the last one?”

 

Caitlin laughed at that, and Cisco felt the sound ripple through him, warming his soul as he smiled back at her, a real genuine smile. If he were honest, the day Kendra had left, he had very nearly fallen back into the feeling of emptiness that had almost consumed him after he lost Amy; he felt himself teetering over the edge of that dark abyss, but this time at least he could see it, and after a few days of feeling sad about it, he was able to step back and remember himself again. He had really liked Kendra, he had hope to have some sort of future with her, even if their first date had been a battle to plan, but he wasn’t going to latch himself on to the first person to be willing to date him like some desperate love starved schmuck. He’d moved on from Amy, and that made moving on from Kendra feel...well, as easy as microwaving his hot pocket.


	39. Chapter 39

“You need a what now?” Dante stopped in his playing, his fingers hovering over the key as he started at Amy with a mixture of confusion and apprehension. 

 

“You heard me just fine Dante,” Amy replied with a sigh, her arms crossed over her chest, “I need a partner, and you’re the only one I can trust to be that,” she looked around his suite’s living room, hoping she wasn’t speaking loud enough for Francisco to hear down the short hallway.

 

Dante carefully fit the piano key cover back into place before folding his hands in his lap equally slowly. “Amy, while I am flattered that you trust me enough to ask me this, I have to ask, why you’re asking me and not my brother?”

 

Amy gave him a withering look. “Seriously? You want me to go ask Francisco to help me bring down Zoom when he’s barely refraining from locking me in our room just to keep me safe?” she snorted, “I might as well hike to Zoom’s cave and tell him to eat a dick, that would really help!”

 

Dante stifled a laugh at that, “Ok fair enough, you’re right, Francisco would say no,” he conceded, “but at the very least, he has powers. Amy, I’m a bell boy ok? My skills are hospitality, and playing the piano, and unless one of those is Zoom’s secret weakness, I will be useless to you as a partner.”

 

“You’re not useless Dante,” Amy told him honestly as she sat beside him on the piano bench, “you’ve been the most supportive person on my side since we met, you see things outside of Francisco’s love blind perspective, you can help me with strategic planning, with information gathering… and,” she nudged him with her shoulder, “you’re a Ramon brother, Francisco did not get all the brains, and he most certainly did not get all the strength in your gene pool. With a little training, you could make a decent fighter.”

 

Dante scoffed, “A decent fighter she says,” he mocked her, “maybe if I get good enough I can take Zoom out with a sucker punch?” he laughed, and Amy joined him.

 

“Alright, true you don’t have any powers,” Amy admit with a smile, “but maybe you don’t need them?” at Dante’s incredulous look she continued, “listen, back on the other world I wasn’t just a bad ass meta ok? I was also an engineer, that’s how I got a job at Star Labs in the first place, and subsequently how I got my powers,” she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket with a drawing on it, a sort of rough blueprint for what looked like a massive scythe, “I was thinking, maybe if we built you a weapon, something strong enough to scare the shit out of anyone causing trouble, and maybe even strong enough to intimidate Zoom, you and I could be like...a super rebel team, huh?”

 

Dante took the sketch from her and examined it, running his fingers over the pencil lines thoughtfully. “This...looks pretty bad ass,” he commented, handing the design back to her, “but we’d need to get the parts to build it, we’d need to have a space to work on it, we’d need to find somewhere for me to practice using it, and finally, and probably most difficult of all, we would need to do all of this out of Francisco’s way,” he sighed wearily, “as hard as he is restraining himself from stopping you, I’m absolutely positive that if he knew I was this involved in your little rebellion, he would murder me without a second thought, which wouldn’t help either of us.”

 

Amy folded the paper and replaced it in her pocket, “He wouldn’t murder you,” she argued weakly, “he might injure you severely, but you’re still his brother, and he knows you’re important to me, so he wouldn’t kill you.”

 

Dante smiled softly at her, “Well its good to know I’m important to someone,” he replied softly.

 

Amy smiled back, reaching over to take his hand in hers, “Dante I’m asking for your help as a member of your family,” she gave him a pleading look, “Francisco needs this, whether he wants to admit it or not, but I can’t do this alone,” she lifted one of her hands to his face, her eyes locked on his as she asked him once again, “please Dante, will you help me stop Zoom and save Francisco once and for all?”

 

Dante sighed, feeling his chest tightening as her eyes bore into him. He lifted a hand of his own to her cheek, “Amy, you are playing to my weaknesses and that is incredibly unfair,” he told her pointedly, “but if you’re telling me that you cannot do this alone, and that you trust me with your life, as I am about to trust you with mine...then yes, I will help you,” at those words Amy’s eyes lit up with hope, but he wasn’t finished yet, “but Amy, I need to know, without a doubt in your mind, that if we don’t succeed in bringing Zoom down, you will fight as hard as you can to get to a safe place; because I will not lose my brother and you at once, I will not lose the only family I have left in this world, do you understand me?”

 

Amy took a moment to swallow his words, the hope in her eyes still there, but muted by the sudden up-swell of emotion she felt at the possibility of leaving Dante so alone. Finally she nodded, “I promise Dante,” she whispered, stroking her thumb over his cheek, “if I can get to a safe place, I will, and I will fight like hell to get us all there.”

 

Dante nodded decisively, removing his hand from her face, “I guess that settles it then,” he took a deep breath and nodded once more, “so what exactly do we need to build this super scythe thing?” he asked in a conversational tone, determined to soften the tension between them, “and do I get a cool name to go with it, or would that be weird?”

 

Amy managed a smile at his question, pulling the paper out again and laying it on the music ledge of the piano, “No, you can have a name,” she agreed with a nod, “what did you have in mind?”


	40. Chapter 40

“Iris!” CSI Barry Allen waved enthusiastically to his wife, getting up from his seat at the table he’d claimed for them, outside the café they chose to meet at for lunch that afternoon.

 

Detective Iris West smiled and waved back to him as she approached, “Sorry I’m late, Lawton misplaced the evidence from our latest meta involved robbery, I had to sit him down and help him recount his steps before the captain tore him a new one,” she kissed him sweetly before sitting across from him with a smile, “I hope you weren’t starving yourself waiting for me.”

 

 

Barry shook his head, a dopey grin on his face, “No, of course not, in fact I already ordered for both of us,” he informed her proudly.

 

 

Iris gave him a loving smile. “Aww, thanks babe,” she said as she reached across the table to take his hand. Barry shrugged, rubbing his thumb softly over hers, as he pushed his spectacles up with his free hand. Barry adored his wife, she was like a gift sent from heaven in his eyes, the perfect balance of bad ass and assertive to his nerdy softness. Working with her at the CCPD every day just made their marriage all the more perfect in his opinion, they were like the perfect team in and outside of the department, with Barry’s brains and talent for data collection coupled with Iris’s intuition and fighting agility, the CCPD didn’t have a case they couldn’t solve together.

 

 

Iris smirked at him knowingly, “Barry, you’re staring at me with those sunshine eyes again,” she commented, referring to his habit of gazing at her as though she were the sun that gave him life.

 

Barry looked down for a moment, a pink blush coming to his cheeks, “Sorry honey I just,” he looked up again, meeting her eyes, biting his lip slowly as he smiled back at her, “I love you so much, you know? I can’t help it if I stare, I just can’t believe you’re my wife sometime.”

 

 

Iris shook her head fondly, “You are so cute Bar,” she said as he continued to blush at her. She loved how innocent he seemed sometimes, he was like a big bumbling baby deer most of the time, but she knew how to make him focus. Under the table, she slipped her stockinged foot out from one of her heeled shoes, slowly trailing it up the inside of his leg as she whispered, “sometimes I just wanna drag you into the supply closet, and ride that innocence out of you.” It was her turn to bite her lip gleefully, as Barry’s face rapidly went from pink to lobster red.

 

 

“The last time you did that, we almost got caught,” he hissed, squirming slightly as he heel rested on the small section of chair directly between his legs.

 

 

Iris shrugged, “Almost only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades,” she quipped back, arching her foot forward just enough to elicit a strangled squeak from Barry.

 

“Detective West,” a strong sounding voice drew Iris’s attention to a tall blond man in an old style red military uniform, a silver lightening bolt emblazoned on his chest. He smiled politely at them both. “I hope I’m not interrupting your lunch?” he asked as Iris relinquished her foot from between Barry’s legs.

 

 

“Not immensely Garrick,” she replied with a sigh, “we only just started.”

 

 

Jay Garrick nodded, “Oh, well I only wanted to ask your husband for a favor if I might, but I can come by the station later if you’d prefer Mr. Allen?”

 

 

Barry shook his head, taking in a deep breath through his nose as he willed the heat in his face and pants to subside. “No that won’t be necessary Mr. Garrick, what was he favor you wanted to ask?”

 

 

Jay nodded to Iris again as a silent apology, removing his shining silver winged metal helmet as he answered. “Well I was wondering if you could check the CCPD records for a woman by the name of Amy Warren? I recently came in contact with her, and she claims to have information that could be used in the fight against Zoom, but I’m not sure whether to trust her or not, so I wanted to see if you could give me any reason not to.”

 

 

Iris raised an eyebrow at him, “Why not just send this woman to the station?” she asked curiously, “after all you’re not the only one trying to stop Zoom Garrick, not to mention you’re methods aren’t officially legally supported as of yet, so perhaps it would be prudent to let the police handle the interrogation of possible leads?”

 

Jay nodded again, “I’m inclined to agree with you detective,” he replied earnestly, “but like I said, I don’t know if she’s worth either of our times yet, and while my ‘methods’ as you put it aren’t legally backed by the CCPD, I think we both know Zoom is something your police force isn’t quite equipped to handle.”

 

 

Iris gave him a curt smile, “We handle the rest of the meta criminal populace just fine Garrick, I think we can handle another speedster like yourself,” she sat back in her chair and met his gaze, daring him to insinuate anything else about her police force.

 

 

Jay simply smiled politely in return, as Barry intervened. “Now darling, I’m sure Mr. Garrick didn’t intend his words to be insulting, he’s just concerned that the CCPD is going up against an enhanced individual without enhancements of our own to match, isn’t that right Mr. Garrick?”

 

 

Jay nodded slowly, “I apologize detective if I made it sound like I do not have the utmost faith in the Central City Police force, but your husband is right, Zoom is dangerous, and unless Harrison Wells decides to have another lab accident -”

 

 

Iris scoffed, cutting him off. “You know Garrick, taking the law into your own hands, and masquerading as this Crimson Comet hero everyone is raving about is one thing, but if you’re going to stand here making unsubstantiated claims against Doctor Harrison Wells, who by the way has been the benefactor of multiple projects to help control the meta problem in this city, then I’m sorry, but I’m going to have ask you to leave my husband and I to our lunch in peace.”

 

 

Barry winced at the sound of Iris’s hard detective voice, giving Jay an apologetic look knowing there wasn’t much he could do to defend the speedster at this point. Jay’s smile fell, replaced with a look of contrite as he placed his helmet back on his head, “Again, my apologies detective,” he tipped his helmet to her, then to Barry, “Mr. Allen.” In a flash of red, he was gone, leaving Barry frowning cautiously over at his lightly fuming wife.

 

 

“After all the good that man has done this city,” Iris muttered agitatedly, “you’d think he’d know the difference between aiding the police, and impeding an investigation.”

 

 

Barry reached out once more to take her hand, smiling softly at her as she directed her anger hardened gaze his way. “He’s right though,” Barry pointed out carefully, “Zoom is more powerful than any of the metas we’ve seen so far...maybe letting him get close is the best option, after all, he’s a speedster just like Zoom -”

 

 

“Barry,” the way Iris said his name told Barry he’d best not continue his statement. “Meta human or not, Zoom is a criminal, and as such he falls under CCPD jurisdiction. Garrick may be a hero to the people of this city, but the CCPD has been working harder, and risking their lives longer than metas have been around, so as a superior officer, and your wife, I’m recommending you set your career apart from the part of your life where you’re a Comet Fan-boy, alright?”

 

 

Barry nodded, looking down at the table top vaguely embarrassed. “I do Iris, I promise,” he assured her softly, giving her hand a squeeze.

 

 

Iris’s anger fizzled as she looked over at Barry, seeing his innocence again reminding her how much she loved and trusted him. She leaned close across the table, separating her hand from his in order to caress his cheek, “Oh Bar,” she sighed as he smiled over at her, pressing his face into her hand, “what do you say we skip lunch, and find a quiet spot in the park where we can finish what we started before Garrick showed up, hmn?”

 

 

Barry’s face immediately flushed a deep pink again, “Iris t-that’s illegal...and you’re a detective!” he hissed, though his eyes betrayed his excitement at the idea.

 

 

Iris grinned wickedly, “You’re right, I am a detective, which means I know the best spots where we won’t get caught!” she whispered back.

 

 

Barry glanced to either side of them before pulling his bottom lip between his teeth adorably, “We’d better get going then, cuz I already ordered, and the food should be coming out any time now...”

 

 

Iris nodded and the both stood quickly, walking briskly across the street towards the entrance to Central City Park arm in arm. A little ways away, atop a building and out of view, Jay Garrick stood watching the detective and her husband scurrying off into the park like teenagers sneaking out after dark, He shook his head, a wicked smirk on his face as he muttered to himself, “Detective West...I bet you wouldn’t be nearly so quick to defend Harrison Wells if you knew about him what I do,” he chuckled darkly to himself, flexing his shoulders before speeding off to a cave in the woods, deciding he’d been a hero enough for one day, it was time to bring out the darkness….


	41. Chapter 41

Francisco had spent a significant amount of time in his life, controlling and internalizing a lot of anger. Anger that he felt towards his parents, anger that he felt towards his brother, and more recently, anger that he’d felt towards Star Labs for killing the woman he loved. In all that time, he had coiled his anger inside of him, keeping it close, like some festering gangrenous wound; he saw it only as a weakness for the longest times, until he met Zoom.

 

 

It had been Zoom who had shown him that anger, particularly the deep seated, long held kind, could be used as a weapon far more powerful than your opponent could ever know. When he’d been recruited into Zoom’s ranks, Francisco began to train with that idea in mind, using his anger as a weapon, letting his rage fuel his attacks. That’s probably how he rose to his current position so quickly, with as much anger as he had, he was able to take down small tent cities of metas with little more than his rage and maybe one crony as back up. That crony had usually been Deathstorm, and so when he became a general, Deathstorm and his frosty bitch girlfriend became his lieutenants. He supposed it was rather odd that it took a psychotic, mass murdering crime lord to show him how to channel his anger, but now, in the darkest time of his life since watching Amaryllis die, he couldn’t deny he was grateful for the lesson.

 

 

He stood alone in the training gym, flexing his hands, as he thought on how everything he had tried to create, was falling apart on him. He’d tried to create a life with Amy, to teach her that Zoom was not to be trifled with, that it was better to remain useful and inconsequential, than to fight what Zoom was building. But Amy was too strong for him, too willful. Both were qualities in her that he loved more dearly than he could express, but they were also both qualities that would get her killed on the path she had chosen.

 

 

He looked up, staring down his targets on the other side of the room: three tall free standing punching bags that were tattered and worn from previous use. He flexed his hands once again, gritting his teeth as he took in a breath through his nose. In then next instant, he was charging his targets, blasting them with vibrations so strong, they each slammed into the walls behind them, nearly flattening under the force. He continued his onslaught, blasting each of them repeatedly, knocking some into the air only to blast them down again. He poured his anger and frustration into ever blast, ever hit, every kick, a roar of raw emotion tearing from his throat as he beat the equipment into crumpled hunks of garbage. It wasn’t enough, he could still feel the anger and fear coursing through him, even as he stopped his attack on the now useless punching bags.

 

 

He hated not being in control. He hated the slow, agonizing feeling, that no matter how hard he tried to keep her safe and close, Amy was slipping away from him. It was like clinging to a hand full of sand, she just seemed to slip through his fingers, towards a danger she couldn’t fight alone, and there was nothing he could do to stop her. He slumped against a wall, sliding to the floor as he willed the anger to subside. He couldn’t face Amy like this, he couldn’t look her in the eyes, knowing she was risking her life, expecting him not to interfere, and not try to bring her to her senses. She wouldn’t listen to him, he knew that, hell she thought what she was doing was all for him, nevermind how fucking dangerous it was. He let his eyes drift closed, swallowing to try to prevent the fresh, hot, angry tears that welled behind his eyelids.

 

 

“Holy shit,” the familiar voice startled Francisco from his internal struggle, his eyes snapping open to find Dante, gazing over at him and the destroyed punching bags with nervous surprise. “Francisco...buddy...you uh...wanna talk, or are you gonna blow my head off if I come any closer?”

 

 

“I might blow your head off regardless,” Francisco replied gruffly,getting to his feet, “what the fuck do you want Dante?” he asked as he stood up, praying to whatever god he could that his brother hadn’t come simply to pester him.

 

 

Dante took a careful step forward, “Well, I wanted to talk to you,” he replied with a soft chuckle, “but seeing what you did to these things, I’m not sure now is a good time?”

 

 

“When is it ever a good time?” Francisco shot back with a scowl, “every time we talk, you either piss me off, or you tell me something about Amy’s stupid ass plan to get herself killed to save my life, so going by that track record, I’m tempted to tell you to fuck off and never speak to me again.”

 

 

Dante nodded, biting his lips together as he shrugged, “Ok well, you make a fair point, what can I tell ya?” he tried out a smile, but Francisco was having none of it. Dante decided to just plow on through, hoping his brother wouldn’t end him in the process. “It’s actually funny you should mention Amy,” Dante began, flinching as Francisco’s scowl turned murderous.

 

 

“One more word Dante,” Francisco warned, “just one more word about her, and you get to find out how much it hurts to have your entire skeleton shattered,” he raised his hand for emphasis, but Dante was already sufficiently terrified.

 

 

Perhaps that's why he blurted out, “She asked for my help,” before immediately cringing, expecting a blow to be sent his way. When one didn’t come, he opened his eyes to find Francisco staring at him still, only in suspicious confusion rather than murderous fury.

 

 

Francisco lowered his hand, “Help with what?” he asked, marveling slightly at the way Dante cowered before him but didn’t run. Whatever this was about, it was important to him, enough so that he was willing to risk his life for it.

 

 

Dante swallowed, “With her plans to take down Zoom,” he explained, his entire body so tense with fear, that he felt a stiff breeze might snap him in two.

 

 

Francisco stared at him in open disbelief now. “Why the fuck, would Amy ask you, a worthless little bell boy, to help her take down the most dangerous meta in this universe?”

 

 

Dante bristled at being called worthless but chose to ignore it, in lieu of keeping the conversation going. “She said she needs a side kick,” he explained further, “someone to back her up in case things get dicey, which they no doubt will...she’s building me a super weapon and everything.”

 

 

A super weapon? Dante, keeping her safe? Against Zoom?! “Fucking hell,” Francisco breathed, bringing his hands to his head as it began to spin, “fucking hell,” he said again, this time louder, though his voice shook slightly, “fucking….FUCKING HELL!” He screamed it this time, falling to his knees, and blasting the floor with vibrations as he slammed his fists against it. “You idiots!” he roared, glaring up at Dante, “don’t you see what you’re doing?! Don’t you understand what’s going to happen to you?!” His tears were back now, searing his cheeks and blurring his vision, “Zoom is going to tear you both to pieces, and I’m supposed to just sit by and watch?! Do NOTHING?!” he leaned forward, pressing his aching forehead against his fists, “I already watched my love die once, and now you two want me to do it again...I can’t do it again...I can’t...”

 

 

Francisco didn’t care that he was sobbing on the filthy gym floor, he didn’t care that his brother was there to watch him having this break down, he didn’t even care when he felt Dante’s hesitant hands rest on his back, stroking up and down slowly, he was too far gone in that moment to be able to. Everything was closing in on him, and he had to scream, to let it all out or it would suffocate him. Dante’s hand on his back lifted, replaced by the warm firm expanse of his chest, as he enveloped his younger brother in an awkward hug.

 

 

“Francisco, I know that you're afraid,” he whispered softly, hugging his brother as tight as he could in his odd position, “I know that you can't lose Amy, and I will do my best to make sure that you never do, but I need your help to do that.” He reached underneath of Francisco, lifting him into a sitting position, pushing a few loose strands of hair from his brother’s face as he continued, “You have to be strong a little while longer _hermano_ , because if you aren’t, this isn’t going to work.”

 

 

Francisco was still slightly dazed from his breakdown, his vision still blurred with tears, but he had heard what Dante had said. “What do you mean?” he asked in a hoarse, tired voice, his one hand unconsciously clinging to Dante’s arm in order to stay upright.

 

 

Dante gave him a small smile as he noticed, a few tears of his own blooming across his lashes. “Amy wants my help Francisco, she knows you can’t help her because it would draw too much suspicion on you, but me, I’m...” he shrugged, repeating Francisco’s earlier words, “I’m just a worthless bell boy, Zoom would never see me as a threat.” He took hold Francisco’s free hand, lifting it between them in a seemingly symbolic gesture, “But in order to help Amy, I need you to help me,” he squeezed Francisco’s hand for emphasis, “I’m out of my depth here little brother, I need you to teach me to be strong. I need you to teach me how to fight to keep Amy safe for you,” he brought Francisco’s hand to his mouth, kissing his knuckles lightly as he smiled at his brother, “you’ve always been the strong one Francisco, and I’m so very sorry that you had to be, but now it’s time for you to teach me how to be strong like you, because I couldn’t live with myself if we lost Amy, I couldn’t bear to see the last of this family torn apart.”

 

 

Francisco stared at his brother, his eyes searching Dante's face as he silently processed what Dante had said. He stared long and hard, his heart thudding away in his chest as he felt his body teetering with exhaustion. For an instant, he felt like a little boy again, huddled in Dante’s arms, while their parents screamed at each other in the living room; clinging to his older brother for safety and comfort as he tried to drown out the conflict echoing in his ears. The circumstances had changed, the years had come and gone, yet here he was, huddled in Dante’s arms seeking comfort, it was only now that he realized Dante had always been seeking the same. They needed each other, they needed to work together, that was the only way to keep Amy safe. Francisco swallowed thickly, blinking at Dante as his words repeated in his ears. He was the strong one, he always had to be, it had been the only thing that kept him from following in Dante’s footsteps; but now, Dante was pleading that he teach him, to share with him that strength, so that he wouldn’t have to bear it all alone anymore, so he could be the brother Francisco had always needed him to be. Without really thinking, Francisco moved, freeing his hand from Dante’s,  his arms up and out and, half falling, half leaning forward against his brother, pulling him into a hug.

 

 

Dante went rigid, stunned by the sudden display of affection, after so many years of animosity. After a moment or two though, his body seemed to melt in relief, and he hugged Francisco back as hard as he could, humming with joy as he did.

 

 

“You’re going to keep Amy safe?” Francisco whispered in his ear, still holding tight to him.

 

 

Dante nodded, “I’m going to do my very best Francisco,” he replied honestly, “I know how important she is to you.”

 

 

“To us,” Francisco amended quietly, “I know how important she is to you too.”

 

 

Dante nodded again, “Yes...you both are.”

 

 

Francisco nodded himself then, feeling as though a small weight were lifting from his chest. Anger was a powerful weapon, that was something Francisco knew from experience. But now, he was beginning to learn that there was something stronger, not a weapon so much, as a force of nature. Love. It had driven him so much further than his anger had, and now it would drive him further still, galvanizing him for the fight he would now be facing.

 

 

“Dante,” he whispered his brother’s name, drawing back from their embrace to look him in the eyes, “what is it exactly, that Amy is building for you?”

 

 

Dante didn’t answer with words, instead, he reached into the pocket of his jeans, and pulled out a crumpled, sketched schematic of an impressive looking scythe. “It channels dimensional energy,” he finally explained, as Francisco looked over the drawing, “sort of like Amy’s powers, and yours, but more...explosive.”

 

 

Francisco frowned, smoothing his fingers over a word that was scribbled in the bottom right-hand corner, “What does this mean?” he asked, pointing to it as Dante smiled.

 

 

“Oh that...uh...well, that’s what I’m gonna be called,” Dante replied, a touch of pride in his voice, “once it’s built and everything.”

 

 

Francisco re-read the word, a small smile coming to his lips. “Hmn,” he said thoughtfully, “Rupture...it’s not terrible,” he glanced over at his brother once more, “sounds a bit like Reverb.”


	42. Chapter 42

“Miss Warren,” Jay Garrick addressed her respectfully, as though she weren’t someone who didn’t belong in this universe, using a name that belonged to a dead woman, “I think you and I have a few things to discuss.”

 

 

Amy stared at him for a moment, contemplating whether this seemingly upstanding hero of a man was worth the conversation, or if she were better off blasting her way away from him, and cutting her losses. I had seemed logical at the time, contacting the CCPD for any information they had on Zoom and his henchmen, after all whatever information they did have would be far more organised and detailed than whatever she could cobble together from the internet. But impersonating a dead woman was a tricky thing, and even with her Felicity Smoak degree in hacking, stealing her doppelganger’s identity had proved to be a pointless endeavour the moment she saw CSI Barry Allen, and he had recognised her.

 

 

**One hour previous…**

 

 

Barry Allen prided himself on his record keeping. His filing cabinets were the most well organised in the entire precinct, if there was something that needed to be found, he was the one who would find it. It came with the territory of being a CSI, finding things was his job, from crime scene, to lab, to court room, he could dig through the clutter and find the important information. Barry’s pride in his work had recently been bossted ten fold, when the infamous Hero of Central City, The Crimson Comet himself, Jay Garrick had entrusted him specifically to find information for him. The task was a simple one, dig up all he could on a woman named Amy Warren, and report all he found to Garrick to aid in his hero work. Investigating people was literally his day job, Barry could do it in his sleep, but this search was rapidly turning into a rabbit hole of peculiarity, and Barry was beginning to wonder if he should continue with it.

 

 

His initial search for the name ‘Amy Warren’ had been a bust, nobody by that name was living in Central City, or any of it’s surrounding cities for that matter. There were several residents with the sername Warren, and a handful of women named Amy, but none of them matched both criteria, so he switched tactics. Amy was a short name, short names were often nicknames, used in place of their longer tongue twisting counterparts, so Barry began to fliter his search by names that could possibly be shortened to Amy for some reason or another. That got him a total of seven results, three were women names Amelia, two of which had relocated to other cities by now, two more were women named Amaya, which he admitted was a bit of a stretch so he discounted them soon after weeding them out. The last two were almost instantly discounted as well, as both of the were dead, but Barry noticed something about the very last listing, that gave him pause.

 

 

Amaryllis Warren had died the night of the Star Labs incident, her body was found near that of a male near her age, a colleague of hers by the name Francisco Ramon. The picture that came up with her obituary was from her Highschool graduation, but her death was not the first occasion to land her in the papers. A scientific achievement award had been given to her in college, she’d earned it as part of a team project for something or another, Barry hadn’t bothered to read too much into the article, it was the picture that he had been interested in. Four smiling young students in white lab coats, the two in the middle holding a trophy together, Amaryllis on the left, and Francisco Ramon on the right. The image was old, and his face was far more easy going than what the CCPD had on file for him, but Barry saw him and realized instantly, the man holding the trophy beside Amaryllis, was Reverb. That single piece of information alone, set Barry’s investigative senses tingling, but as he dug deeper, he realized that Amarylis Warren wasn’t as dead as she appeared to be on paper. Following the legal trail of Francisco Ramon’s lawsuit against Star Labs, he was able to find a current address, a posh penthouse apartment, paid for with Star Labs money, merely a few blocks away in the Central City Palisades.

 

 

Deeper and deeper down the rabbit hold Barry went, too caught up in the absurdity of what he was finding to bother contacting his superiors for a search warrant, he hacked into the building’s security feed right there in his office. The current feed didn’t provide him with much, just a view of passers by, and a few interior hallways with little foot traffic in them. But due to advances in technology, and changes in laws that Barry remembered, he knew that apartment complexes like the Palisades, stored their security camera footage for a minimum of one year, and so that was where Barry dug next. Days of footage sped across his screen, sparse glimpses of residents coming and going flickering like blips in the tape. Then suddenly, the images he was looking for were there, two people, one following the other entering the lobby of the building. The one in front, Barry recognized as Reverb, and after squinting for a moment, Barry’s mouth dropped open in utter surprise, as he recognized the features of the woman with him from her graduation photo, Amaryllis Warren.

 

 

By now, she had been dead for years, the coronor’s report listed her as being dead on scene, electrocuted to the point of cardiac failure, her funeral was part of a memorial service held by Star Labs after the incident...but there she was, living, walking, and willingly following one of Central City’s most wanted meta criminals into his apartment building. It wasn’t possible, it was ludicrous, it was like a story out of a television show unfolding in real life, like some absurd murder mystery dinner theater. How was she alive? How did she so thoroughly fake her own death? And why had she done it, only to be so careless by being caught on camera? Barry could already guess why Reverb hadn’t bothered with hiding his face, he had a reputation for being cocky, he had likely walked in and out of that apartment building a thousand times, maybe even looked for the cameras just to make a statement of his dominance as a meta. But Amaryllis Warren, she was a ghost, she didn’t exist anymore, why show herself now?

 

 

Jay’s words resurfaced in his mind, he’d said she might have information that could help him fight Zoom. The pieces started falling into place quite clearly then, Barry watched her follow Reverb into the building, her head turning to take in her surroundings, she was a double agent. Barry compiled the report using all his professional preciseness, doing his best te keep it devoid of personal opinion or bias, even going so far as to print it out on his personal office letterhead. He was nearly twitching with excitement as he straightened the papers, and tucked them away in a manila envelope, a proud smile on his face as he grabbed his jacket and briefcase, ready to set out and meet with The Crimson Comet. He exited his office with a skip in his step, greeting two officers enthusiastically as he made his way down the stairs. But halfway down, his gaze was lifted by the sound of the elevator’s doors sliding open, and his briefcase nearly dropped from his hand as he recognized the woman who exited it with hesitant steps. Amaryllis Warren was here.

 

 

“Ma’am,” a passing officer approached her curiously, “is there something you need help with?”

 

 

Barry didn’t even bother trying to remember the officers name, his long gangly legs were already running him down the stairs towards her. “I’ve got it!” he cried, stumbling to a halt beside the confused officer and her, “woo, excuse me officer, I’ll take care of this woman, she’s here to see me.” He smiled, hoping his story was believable, even as Amaryllis’ eyes went wide when she saw him.

 

 

“Oh, my apologies Barry,” the officer apologized, “I’ll leave you to it then.”

 

 

Barry thanked them politely, before turning back to Amaryllis with wide eyes of his own. “Miss Warren,” he greeted her, extending his hand to her eagerly, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, our uh...mutual accquaintance, Mr. Garrick, he told me about you – or um, rather he mentioned you, and had me...look into you,” he shook his head realizing that sounded less than welcoming, “the point is, I’m happy to help you in any way I can, I am at your service.”

 

 

Amaryllis stared at him as though he’d grown a second head. The hand he’d extended to her was left un-shaken, her eyes flitting over his face as her face went pale, ironically she was the one who looked like she’d seen a ghost. “Barry?” she spoke his name in a near whisper, her hand finally slowly reaching out to take his, “Barry Allen?”

 

 

Barry nodded, slightly confused by her odd behavior, “Yes ma’am, CSI Barry Allen, at your service,” he shook her hand and smiled, “has uh...Mr. Garrick mentioned me?” he asked her hopefully, a little thrill of excitement at the idea of Jay Garrick speaking highly of him.

 

 

Amaryllis frowned at him. “Mr. Garrick?” she asked, the hesitation her body language held when she first disembarked the elevator back again.

 

 

Barry nodded again, “Well…yes, Jay Garrick? He’s….well he’s...” the gears of his mind began to grind as a realization forced its way to the surface, “you do know who he is, don’t you?” The hand Barry still held in his twitched, and a glimer of fear shone in Amaryllis eyes as they began to take in her surroundings. She was looking for an escape. Barry cursed himself for assuming he knew what was going on, his entire background of CSI training screaming at him to never make conclusions without all the evidence. His hand clasped tighter around hers, desperately hoping he could hold her by it if she made a run for it. “Miss Warren, I realize that I may have just made an incredible mistake in mentioning Mr. Garrick, but I assure you that my offer to help you still stands, and if you would just follow me up to my lab, I’m sure we could-”

 

 

There was a sudden gust of air, and the unmistakeable sound of electricity crackling through the air, sent Barry’s head swiveling to find The Crimson Comet himself standing beside him. “Mr. Allen,” Jay greeted him politely, “I see you’ve found Miss Warren for me.” Barry opened his mouth to speak, but his brain was firing too rapidly to decide what to say. Amaryllis stared at Jay in disbelief, tugging her hand free of Barry’s grip as she looked Jay up and down, taking in his striking red uniform. “Miss Warren,” Jay Garrick addressed her respectfully, as though she weren’t someone who didn’t belong in this universe, using a name that belonged to a dead woman, “I think you and I have a few things to discuss.”


	43. Chapter 43

“I’m sensing a little hostility Miss Warren,” Jay commented with a small friendly smile, “I assure you that it’s unescessary.”

 

 

Amy glared at him, two red orbs primed in her palms, even as she tried to catch her breath after being suddenly scooped up by a foreign speedster, and whisked away to some abandoned warehouse who knew where. “The hostility is unescessary?” She asked him coldly, “says the man who just kidnapped me from a police station in broad daylight.”

 

 

Jay nodded at that. “I apologize for that Miss Warren, I realize that being snatched up by a speedster can be a bit...jarring,” he admit, “but it seemed easier than trying to explain things before the whole of the CCPD, especially since they aren’t particualrly fond of meta humans in general.”

 

 

“Just the speedster ones?” Amy snorted, “of course, because even if they didn’t like you, you’re too fast to catch.” She rolled her eyes before taking in more of her surroundings. There were several large windows illuminating the floor they were on, and though they were grimy, through one, she could see the very top of a building she recognized. “This is one of Star Labs old storage warehouses isn’t it?” she asked, nodding towards the crest of the round building through the window behind her, “Why did you bring me here?”

 

 

Jay’s small smile grew slightly, seemingly glad that she recognized where she was. “I already told you Miss Warren, there are some things we need to discuss,” he nodded past her towards Star Labs himself, “starting with how you got your powers without being exposed to the particle accelerator explosion like the rest of us.”

 

 

Amy shrugged at him. “Who says I wasn’t?” she challenged him, brandishing the red orbs of energy in her palms at him, “you think I just woke up like this?”

 

 

Jay chuckled at that. “I know who you are Miss Warren,” Jay explained slowly, “or at the very least, I know who you’re claiming to be.” He took a step towards her, not the least bit threatened by her energy orbs, after all her was probably fast enough to dodge whatever she threw at him. “You met my friend, Mr. Allen back at the presinct, I had him look you up,” another step, hands raised at his sides, “forgive me for being forward, but you make for one lovely dead woman.”

 

 

 

“How did you have him look me up?” she asked, ignoring his backwards compliment. “I’ve worked with the police before, last I checked you needed a name or a picture to look into someone’s past,” she took a step back and to the side, not wanting to back herself into a corner in case she actually needed to put up a fight, “now since we’ve never met, and I’ve never seen you before, I’d like to know how exactly you got either one of those things before I even think about trusting you.”

 

 

Jay nodded, “Fair enough,” he agreed. He unsnapped the very top of his uniform, reaching inside it to withdraw a photograph. “I’ve been looking into the disappearance of a young girl, a friend of yours if I did my digging correctly, her name is Jessie Wells.” He flipped the photograph around,revealing the familiar face of Jessie, smiling and happy with some other girl that Amy didn’t recognize.

 

 

Amy connected the dots rather quickly after that, remembering the hotel, and David, and the clothes Jessie had given her. She was wearing one of Jessie’s shirts now, a red one with a picture of an atom on it with the caption ‘don’t trust atoms, they make up everything’. She swallowed down the swell of guilt she felt well up in her, and dissolved her energy orbs. “Can you save her?” she asked softly, her eyes still fixed on the picture, “you’re a speedster, so you can save her from another speedster right?” she finally looked up at Jay, all traces of hostility gone, replaced by a look of pleading, “what did you need from me?”

 

 

‘ _That was easier than expected_ ’ Jay thought, replacing the picture in his chest pocket. “I need information Miss Warren,” he explained, “Zoom is a dangerous man, but I’m confident that with the right strategy, we can take him down.”

 

 

“And you think I can help you with that?” Amy asked shaking her head, “what can I do? He’s a speedster, he moves too fast for my powers to be of an use against him, I barely even know anything about him, I just follow orders, I can’t -”

 

 

“Miss Warren,” Jay interrupted her, taking a step towards her, “take a breath please, I’m not asking you to mount an offensive attack on him by yourself,” he sighed, giving her a conflicted look, as if trying to decide whether to move closer and risk spooking her, or to just take the chance to reassure her. “Like I said, I need information, I need to know who works for him, what his motives are, his weaknesses.”

 

 

Amy clenched her jaw, hands balling into fists at her sides as her shoulders grew tense. “I can’t tell you that,” she replied in a strained voice, “there are people I care about who would be in danger if I told you anything, people who could die.”

 

 

“And what about Jessie?” Jay asked, “you don’t think she’s in danger? That Zoom might kill her, if he hasn’t already?”

 

 

Amy flinched at the idea. “I know she’s in danger!” she shot back, “I know Zoom could kill her, I know all of this damitt! But you can’t ask me to choose between her and the people I love, it’s an impossible request!”

 

 

Jay looked angry for a moment, frustrated by her lack of cooperation. But the anger was gone almost the instant it flittered across his face, replaced by a determined calm. “Well what can you tell me Miss Warren?” he asked carefully, “if you don’t want to give me names, then give me locations, details,” he looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked, “what sort of orders has he been giving you?”

 

 

Amy stared at him with pained eyes, what could she tell him? What information could she give him that wouldn’t put Francisco in danger? Why did this have to be so hard? “He’s had us collecting metas,” she told him hesitantly, “he gives us names, and we track them down, convince them to join him.”

 

 

Jay nodded, listening intently. “And these metas...do they come willingly?”

 

 

Amy swallowed, shaking her head. “Not usually,” she admit quietly, “most of them need convincing, some of them refuse altogether...”

 

 

At that Jay sighed, knowing exactly what she meant by ‘convincing’. “When you recruit these individuals, where do you take them?”

 

 

Amy shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t know, that’s not my job,” she was staring down at the floor now, a far off look in her eyes, the memory of every frightened face she’d had a hand in ‘recruiting’ playing through her mind. “He’s an evil man Mr. Garrick,” she finally added, sniffling as she looked back up at him, “if he’s even a man at all. I don’t know what he does with the people we recruit, but whatever it is, I’m sure it’s nothing good.”

 

 

Jay regarded her with an unreadable look, and for some reason it made Amy uncomfortable, as though he were judging her somehow. “Miss Warren,” he said, then after a beat, “Amy,” he took a step forward again, less than a foot away now, “I realize that everything I know about you is from a file,and on paper you sound just as bad as all the other meta criminals I’ve encountered,” another step, and his hand reached out to rest on her arm, “but it’s clear to me now that you’re nothing like what your file makes you out to be,” he smiled down at her, warm and encouraging as she blinked up at him with wet eyes. “I appreciate you doing this, I understand how difficult it must be, putting people you care about in danger for the greater good. But I can promise you that you are doing the right thing.” His hand moved slowly, carefully, up towards her cheek where he wiped away one of her tears.

 

 

Amy stared at him as he did so, not even flinching at the contact, at his closeness. There was a part of her that was chastising her for trusting this man so easily, reminding her with little twists of her stomach that this was dangerous, she knew nothing about him, he could be a bad guy too; but there was another part of her, the part that she had clutched tight inside herself, the part that cried out every time she helped Francisco force another meta to work for Zoom, that was cracking wide open in the face of this stranger’s kindness. He believed she wasn’t a bad person, even though he knew what she had done, even though he knew she worked for the most sinister meta this world had ever seen. “The right thing?” she whispered, “all I’ve ever wanted to do is what was right, but how can anyone decide what’s right and wrong when their hearts don’t agree with their heads?”

 

 

Jay sighed again. “That’s a question I can’t answer for you Amy,” he replied apologetically, then with a thoughtful frown he asked, “if you dislike working for Zoom so much, then why do it?”

 

 

Amy smiled sadly, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. “You said yourself Mr. Garrick, I’m a dead woman,” she stepped away from him, wiping her tears away with her palms, “you’d be surprised how difficult it is for a dead person to survive in this world, especially one with powers.”

 

 

“We could help you,” Jay tried as she turned away from him, “Mr. Allen...I’m sure he could work something out with the CCPD, or off the books...he’s a very reliable asset of mine, I’m sure we could help you somehow.”

 

 

Amy finished wiping her tears, taking in a deep breath to steady herself. It was a tempting offer, get a new identity, live a normal life, run away from all this madness and never look back. But Francisco would need a new life too, and would they trust her if they knew she worked with him? That she loved him? And what about Dante? It would be too complicated, too messy. “Thank you Mr. Garrick,” she replied, without turning around, “but I’m afraid it wouldn’t work. You see the people I care about, the ones I mentioned before, they need me more than I need a new life. So I’m going to have to politely decline your offer.” She began walking towards the dusty sign hanging above a door across the room, it’s faded red lettering spelling out the words ‘emergency exit’.

 

 

“Amy,” Jay called to her, then sped in front of her when she didn’t stop. “Amy,” he said again, holding out a business card, the tiny black font listing Barry’s name and phone number. “Call this number if you think of anything else that you can tell me, Mr. Allen will contact me so that we can meet up again” He lifted her hand and pressed the card into her palm. Amy nodded, side stepping him and pressing onward. “Oh and Amy,” Jay called again, just as her hand touched the door bar, “call me Jay,” he said.

 

 

Amy glaned back at him, catching a glimpse of him smiling, his blonde hair and shininy metal helmet almost giving him the appearance of wearing a halo in the dust filtered sunlight. “Jay,” she tested the name out, “I’ll keep that in mind.” With that she pressed the door bar, and left, her footsteps echoing up from the empty stairwell.

 

 

Jay’s smile grew as he listened to her leaving. His plan was proceeding splendidly. He had expected more of a fight on Amy’s part, after all she had taken down firestorm like a pro, but playing at her heart strings seemed to be all the persuading she needed. He reached into his chest pocket, pulling out the picture of Jessie that he’d printed out from her facebook page. “Thank you for you help Jessie,” he said, his voice vibrating and changing into the ominous growl of his true form, “it seems you’re more useful than I originally thought.” He crumpled the picture with one hand, dropping it to the floor before speeding off. He loved this game, playing saviour and villain, and now he had an entire new universe to play in...it was like being a god.


End file.
